Nothing To Lose
by delicate.desires
Summary: Konoha won the war against Sound but now everybody Sakura ever loved is gone, and so she decides that life isn't worth living anymore. Deidara stops her from killing herself and she joins the Akatsuki for just one last adventure. Sakura x Deidara
1. Final Farewell

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.

Summary: Konoha won the war against Sound but now everybody Sakura ever loved is gone, and so she decides that life isn't worth living anymore. Deidara stops her from killing herself and she joins the Akatsuki for just one last adventure. Sakura x Deidara

I suck very badly at summaries, but please give the story a chance!

* * *

"Sasuke!" Sakura screamed, as she watched him fall to the ground with a loud thud. He was bleeding everywhere, and his eyes were no longer red from the sharingan, but from the thick, red blood. Sakura knew that instant that the great Uchiha was was _blind_. He must have been in excruciating pain at the moment- and for a person who had always depended on their eyes, it must have been so horrible being unable to see anymore.

She looked over at the mutilated body next to him. _Orochimaru_. She felt like spitting on him, but decided against it. What was the point? He was finally dead, thanks to Sasuke here. She kneeled down and stroked Sasuke's hair, brushing it out of his now bloody face. She felt her heart clench at the obvious pain he was in. Her eyes stung with tears but she refused to cry. She had to show him that she could be _strong_.

"S-Sakura?" Sasuke asked, spitting blood everywhere. Sakura hushed him, telling him not to push himself too hard. Everything would be alright, he just had to calm down and get some rest. She would find a way to heal him. Her hands started glowing green with her chakra and she immediately started healing his wounds. "N-no. Don't bother, Sakura. I know I'm going to d-die... I j-just wanted to say..."

"Don't you _dare_, Sasuke. We've come this far to find you, and now that we have- we're definitely not going to lose you again." Sakura interrupted him, sounding just as painfully desperate as she had been when he first left her. Her chakra was almost completely depleted from fighting all of Orochimaru's followers, but she continued trying to heal Sasuke anyways. It wouldn't be fair if he died after years of harsh training with the main purpose of bringing him back. It was her motivation, the reason why she persevered. She would never be able to accomplish anything if it weren't for the thought of being with him again.

"I know i-it's a little too l-late, but... I l-love you. Always h-have... Thanks f-for everything, Sakura." Sasuke said, ignoring Sakura's words. With that said, the corners of his mouth twitched upwards in the slightest way and he soon stopped breathing. Sakura, who had refused to cry throughout the entire ordeal let her tears fall freely, now. It had happened _again_- she wasn't strong enough to make him stay before, and not even now. He had left again, and this time, there was no chance he was ever coming back. Was all her hard work for nothing? She had surpassed Tsunade years ago, but apparently even _that_ wasn't enough.

"No, no, _no_!" Sakura screamed, using all the air inside her lungs. "Sasuke, no! You can't just leave! I've- I've waited too long!" Sakura screamed even louder, her body was racking with sobs. Even to this day she had kept a special place in her heart solely for him, and now he was gone. She never would've pictured everything to end this way. Of course not. She pictured him coming back to Konoha with her completely healthy and unscathed. She pictured them happy together, but all that was impossible, now.

Suddenly a scream pierced the air. Sakura's crying lessened to mere hiccups, and she hurriedly ran to the source of the scream. When she reached the scene, her eyes widened in horror. Ino was lying there with a long sword shoved right through her stomach. From where she was standing, she could tell that her beautiful, and once energetic best friend was now dead. She assumed the twitching body next to her was the killer, but he was slowly dying- a kunai was sticking out of his throat. He _deserved_ to die the most painful of deaths! In her fury, she threw several kunai at him, but he barely reacted. He was probably in too much pain already to even feel the kunai now lodged in his arms and legs.

Ino-pig. Her best friend. Without her she would still be the crying mess she was when she was six- oh wait, she still _was_. Sakura shakily brought her hand up to her pale face, now dripping with blood. She still looked so perfect, so heart breakingly beautiful. Sakura felt her skin- it was still a little warm. Who was going to comfort her? She was supposed to be there with her, every step of the way. Sakura never imagined a life without Ino being there- Every time she'd break up with her boyfriend, Ino was supposed to be the one to come stay the night at her apartment bringing in a tub of ice cream. If she ever got married, Ino was going to be the bride's maid. They were supposed to retire together and live until they were old grannies, sitting on rocking chairs and sharing their life's stories.

She choked back more sobs as she stood up and walked away from the body. Everywhere she turned were bloodied corpses. She recognized one of them- Kabuto. She had killed him personally, but it had taken her a while to do so. He was a hard opponent, and had improved quite a lot from Orochimaru, but unluckily for him, she was better.

"Naruto? Kakashi? Where are you?" She called out, desperate for someone to answer. As she looked around, she realized that so far, she was the only survivor- and it killed her inside. She wasn't strong enough to save Sasuke, or Ino, or _anybody_! She was only able to keep herself alive, but that didn't mean anything to her, not now. Why did this have to happen?

She started sobbing as she recognized more of the corpses. There was Kiba, with Akamaru lying right beside him. They stayed together until the very end, but their _end_ was much too early. She gently stroked Akamaru's fur, which was all matted with blood, and choked back a sob. The poor dog felt so cold. Akamaru was supposed to be a happy, bouncy dog, full of life and energy. This... This wasn't right.

A few metres away from him lay Neji, whose eyes had been scraped out, and as she wandered around the battlefield alone, she spotted all the others as well. Tenten, Lee, Hinata, Shino, Chouji, Sai, and even Shikamaru. Sakura couldn't believe it- they were _all_ dead. She let out a strangled cry as she fell to the ground. It couldn't be true.

Even the genius had been killed. How was it possible? Shikamaru Nara, one of the smartest ninja she had ever met, had died. She could always go to him for advice, or ask for an honest opinion, no matter how brutal it could be. She could always depend on Shikamaru for basically anything. He was laid-back, always relaxed, and he always seemed to know just what to do. It was hard for Sakura to see him sprawled on the ground completely lifeless. He was facing upwards, as if staring into the clouds like he always did.

Neji, the arrogant and proud Hyuuga. Even though he was a little big-headed, she still adored the man. One of her most favorite things to do was to simply annoy the hell out of the stoic ninja. He very rarely ever showed emotion, and it gave Sakura a sense of pride when she was able to draw some out of him. She gently touched the symbol on his forehead. He had been able to accept it because of Naruto. Sakura felt sorry for Neji, sorry that he had been bound to such a fate. It wasn't fair, after all he had gone through. He should've lived a happy life.

Tenten, the weapons mistress. She was also one of Sakuras closest friends. She was quite the tomboy, and was always there for Sakura when she needed her to be. The young, brown haired girl was also very talented. Sakura had fond memories of Tenten teaching her how to use the weapons. Whenever they sparred- only weapons, of course- Tenten would always win. She was so skilled, so fast, and Sakura could barely ever keep up. She must have put up quite a fight against her opponents.

There was also Lee. The most passionate and devoted boy Sakura had ever met in her entire life. He would have done anything for her if it would make Sakura happy. He had been such a wonderful friend, as well as an awesome bar buddy. He was so child-like, and still was, although he had growon into a fine young man. Sakura would definitely miss hanging out with him. He shouldn't have died yet.

Sakura would miss the shy, quiet Hinata. Her habit of twiddling her fingers when she was nervous had stayed with her as she grew up. She turned out to be a beautiful kunoichi, and a strong one at that. The girl was also very sweet, and no one could say no to her. She always knew how to calm Sakura down during her more frustrating times. She was also the one to keep Naruto the slightest bit quieter when she was around.

Sakura would even miss Shino, the mysterious bug-boy. As she grew up, she had gotten to know the boy better, and the two became quite close friends. He always knew the right thing to say, and Sakura trusted him enough to tell him many of her secrets. He was quiet, sure, but when she got him talking, she actually enjoyed it. He was a great conversationalist, and Sakura found it amusing how he was a little touchy on the subject of being ignored.

And Chouji. Who could ever forget him? He was big and strong. He was also a warrior. He and Sakura understood each other. They both had gone through tough times and intense training- Sakura's motive to get stronger. Chouji's was to become fit. He was tired of being called fat, and she was tired of being called weak. The two became good friends quite easily over the years, and Sakura was really going to miss eating barbecue with him- even if it was usually her ending up broke.

'Hag', 'Ugly', 'Whore'. Surprisingly, Sakura wished she could hear Sai calling her those words. To hear his voice- anything, as long as he was alive. He had come a long way from when he first entered Team seven. After a slow and somewhat painful process, he finally made true friends, that stuck with him to the end. He was an amazing artist, and Sakura wished she could see him paint another picture. He let her watch once. She had watched as he painted so gracefully with each stroke, how all the colours blended in and made the picture seem so alive.

She couldn't believe they were all dead.

Sakura pinched herself, just to make sure it wasn't a horrible nightmare. When she didn't 'wake up', she immediately started sobbing. They couldn't have all left her. After around a solid ten minutes of crying, she finally stood up, completely shaken.

Who knew Orochimaru recruited so many? Konoha's ninja were outnumbered, but they had managed to kill every last one of Orochimaru's men- but at the expense of their lives. Sakura held her arms around herself, biting her lip to make sure she didn't sob or cry out anymore. If she started, she wasn't sure if she would ever be able to stop.

She continued on, walking around aimlessly. She even spotted Gaara and his siblings. Suna had decided to help as well, and she couldn't help but feel sorry for them. All their soldiers had died helping Konoha finally kill Orochimaru, who had somehow gotten stronger than anybody would have ever expected. Sakura walked over to the corpse of the red-haired by, and gently touched his tattoo. She flinched at the contact- his skin was so cold.

How did she survive? She kneeled down and punched the ground in frustration and anger. She didn't deserve to live, not when everybody she had ever cared for was gone. Why couldn't it be her dead instead of everybody else? No matter how hard she tried, she never succeeded. She couldn't even stop the stream of tears flowing down her face at the moment. She had never been strong enough- if she had been, she could've prevented this all from happening.

Sakura realized that she hadn't found her other teammates' bodies yet. Kakashi and Naruto. She figured they couldn't be dead- especially not Naruto. He was going to be hokage some day. It was his lifelong dream, and he was so close to it. He couldn't die just yet. And there was Kakashi, the famous copy-nin. There was no possible way they could ever leave her. Her thoughts were interrupted by a groan coming from underneath a pile of bodies.

"Naruto? Is that you?" Sakura exclaimed, rushing over to quickly push the bodies off of her dear friend. One of her only precious people left. She wasn't going to let him die, too. There was absolutely no way she would allow that. He was like a brother to her- one that had supported her all these years, who had been there for her every step of the way. If he died, she wouldn't know what to do.

"S-sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, his voice barely audible. He, like everybody on the battlefield, was bleeding profusely. Sakura's eyes widened considerably, it was a wonder he was even alive. She summoned her chakra once again, and immediately started healing him. He couldn't die yet, not Naruto. It wasn't his time! He had to fulfill his life-long dream to be hokage! Sakura scrunched her face up in concentration, closing up his wounds as fast as she could.

"Naruto! Keep holding on, you'll be okay. Whatever you do, just don't give up." Sakura assured him, continuing to concentrate deeply. She would be damned if she let him die. So far, he was the only one left- if Kakashi had died. She didn't even want to think of that possibility, but she hadn't seen or heard of him since then. She didn't know what she'd do. The two had always had her back, it would be too painful to even think of living without them.

"S-sakura-chan... You know I l-love you, right?" He asked, lifting his hands up to caress her cheek lightly. Sakura nodded furiously, and with a creaky voice, she told him yes, and that she loved him too. The two shared a special bond. They both thought of each other as family, as siblings. Nothing more, and both Sakura and Naruto knew that. "G-good." He choked out, before smiling softly as Sasuke had. Sakura's eyes widened, and she tried shaking him. His eyes remained open, but the life in them started to disappear.

Sakura watched as his eyes dulled, no longer filled with life. It was the most painful moment in her life, watching him die there in her arms, and she clutched her chest as if it would help stop her heart from breaking into more pieces. Out of everybody, Naruto was the one she expected to stick by her _forever_. He was her brother for goodness sake! He wasn't supposed to leave her- but he just _had_. And even though it wasn't his fault, it still hurt her the most.

"This can't be happening." Sakura sobbed to herself, wrapping her arms around herself for the slightest bit of comfort. She heard some coughing a short distance away, but she continued to sit there. If it was an enemy, then let them kill her- she didn't care anymore. She closed her eyes for any impact, but when it didn't come, she slowly got up, confused. She heard the coughing again and she headed slowly towards the sound, not bothering to think of the consequences.

There was a huge boulder, pinning a man's arm and leg. The rest of his body was bloody like everything else, and his clothes were torn in many places. She saw the glint of silver hair and her eyes widened. _Kakashi_. She ran towards him, trying to push the boulder off. She was too tired, though, her strength and chakra depleted after trying desperately to save Sasuke and Naruto. She looked down at Kakashi's pained face, and realized that he, too, was going to die.

She broke down beside him, sobbing harder now. Kakashi, with that last bit of his strength brushed her pink hair out of her face in a lovingly manner. "Sakura... Please... Don't cry for me..." He croaked, then went into a coughing fit. Sakura sobbed even more, burying her face into his chest. She felt Kakashi pat her back with his free hand. "Sakura... I want you to... Take my sharingan." He said, completely serious. Sakura looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Please, Sakura. Take it." He said, before he started coughing again.

Sakura nodded, and tried to calm herself enough to stop trembling. Kakashi had always been a father figure to her, and if taking his sharingan was his last dying wish, she was definitely going to fulfill it. She did the surgery as carefully as she could, switching her eye with Kakashi's. It wasn't too difficult- she had surpassed Tsunade and had become an extraordinary medic. She blinked a few times, adjusting to her new eye, when suddenly Kakashi spoke up once again. "I love you. Remember that, okay Sakura?... Be strong for me. Take care of Naruto." He said, before passing away slowly just like the others had.

"No, Kakashi, not you too. Please, please!" Sakura wailed, banging her hands into Kakashi's chest. His hand was still on her back, and his skin was still warm. Sakura looked at his maskless face, and carefully touched his cheek, his scar, and his lips. She never pictured the first time she would have ever seen him without his mask on would be like this.

She struggled to get up, and when she did, she clenched her fist and screamed as loud and as long as she possibly could. Her throat was sore, and her eyes were still blurry with tears. What was she going to do now? She had nowhere to go- everybody she loved in Konoha was right here, dead. Her parents had passed away long ago, and Tsunade? She could live without her. She still had Shizune back in Konoha.

That's when Sakura decided that she would leave for good. She wasn't going to return to Konoha. Her heart wouldn't be able to take it. She'd be surrounded with memories every single day, and reminders that she was the sole survivor of this war. She knew she couldn't handle it. Everybody would pity her, feel sorry for her, and possibly even hate her for not being strong enough to protect the others. She had tried her best, to say the least, but it just wasn't enough.

Tsunade would send troops down, after she realized that nobody was coming back. She'd collect the bodies and hold a massive funeral. Sakura clenched her aching chest again at the thought of even being there at the funeral. There was no way Sakura could live through that. She pictured the memorial stone, with everybody's name engraved on the surface. She decided that she'd let the people of Konoha believe she had died along with the others.

Sakura searched around for a corpse that looked a little similar to her, and permanently changed its appearance to match hers. She made her way back to Kakashi, surgically taking out her eye from his socket. Even though he was already dead, Sakura took extra caution not to mar his face in any way. She quickly disposed the eye, biting her lip as she did so. Sakura then searched for her pack holding the last of her belongings, and took off into the forest.

* * *

End of chapter! **Please review!**

This chapter was really short, but I felt that it should stop there. I usually aim for around 10,000 words but since this is the first chapter of the story I thought I'd make an exception. I've got everything basically planned out, so I know what's going to happen- I just need to write the chapters. Err, I hope you enjoyed reading, and please leave some feedback!


	2. The Entertainment

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!

Thanks for the reviews! I really liked them. Sorry if I don't update fast enough, by the way. If you'd like to see my reasons, here they are: (I hope you guys can understand.)

1. School. I'm only in grade nine, and I've just started to work on this near the end of the school year- provincials, tests, exams are all coming up.  
2. Life. I mean, I can't be on the computer all day long. I have piano, drum, dance lessons, I study chinese, starting lifeguard courses. Then there's the fact I'm _trying_ not to be such a fat ass, lately. It probably doesn't sound that busy to you, but it takes up a lot of my free time, eheh.  
3. Sunniness. Who likes to be cooped up inside their houses on a sunny day? I sure as hell don't. Summer is coming up here, and I'm starting to go out more often.

* * *

Sakura sat in a hotel, somewhere in the Fire country. It had been only days since the defeat of Orochimaru. She had barely slept or eaten since then, and it was showing. Her pink hair had become tangled and messy, there were dark circles under her eyes, and she was already slightly thinner than before. She got up from her bed and picked up her pack, then sprawled herself on the bed once again, thinking deeply to herself.

What would she do now? There was nobody left to turn to. She could start a new life somewhere- she had always wanted to travel, and she could continue being a kunoichi. Wandering ninjas for hire- they weren't uncommon, right? Sakura dumped her pack onto the bed. There was a small envelope containing three pictures and a small sum of money. She had some extra clothes, of course, and some food pills. There was her medical kit, and a few scrolls containing some weapons. Tenten had taught her how to use them, and it had definitely come in handy.

She picked up her head band as soon as it fell out of the pack. _Konoha_. Was she still loyal to them? Or did this count as abandonment? Sakura furrowed her eyebrows, unsure of herself. She traced the Konoha symbol engraved in the center of the metal plate, wondering if she should simply throw it away. It would always be a reminder of Konoha, of the life she once had before the war. Before her special ones had left her in the world to fend for herself. Sakura folded it up neatly and placed it back in her pack, not wanting to look at it anymore. She didn't want to scratch out the symbol just yet.

Sakura then picked up the three pictures and took a good look at them. One was of her parents and her when she was about five years old. They were all smiling in the photo. She sighed, they were such a perfect and happy family. Sakura remembered crying for hours when she hfad found out her parents had died in a mission. Naruto had been the one there to hug and comfort her the entire time. Even now she missed her mother's home cooked meals, and her father's tips on being the best kunoichi she could be. She was glad they couldn't see her now, completely pathetic and _alone_.

The next picture was of the former team seven, with a little picture of Sai's head attached to it by tape. She smiled at the memories she had with them. They were an unstoppable team- Team Kakashi. It was never boring going on missions with them. Sai and Naruto would always fight, and Kakashi and her would always be the ones to have to break them up. Sasuke sure missed out on a lot. It pained her just thinking about it.

Would any of this ever really happen if he hadn't left? If he hadn't left Konoha to become stronger with Orochimaru's power? He had a choice between staying in Konoha or leaving to go kill his brother, and he chose to leave. It still hurt Sakura a little, knowing that she, Kakashi, and Naruto weren't special enough for him to stay. It didn't matter, though. It had already been done, and there was no turning back.

The last picture was of _everybody_. It was during a festival, and everybody had met up at one of the fishing gamestands. Sakura had asked one of the civilians to take a picture of everybody- and this was the result. In the picture, Sakura was being given a piggy back from Naruto, and they were both grinning madly. She remembered how ecstatic Naruto seemed when she had accepted his offer to carry her on his back.

She looked at the others in the picture. Ino was glaring at Shikamaru who wasn't even looking at the camera, and Chouji was too busy eating some chips to bother smiling. Lee and Neji looked as if they were arguing with each other, and Tenten had a sheepish expression her face. The adults had smiled at the camera- they were probably the most normal-looking out of everybody that was there. Kiba had fallen into the water and his face was blood red with Akamaru laughing beside him. Shino's face was covered as always, and Hinata was twiddling her fingers as always. She studied Sai, who had an eyebrow raised, making him look quite silly.

Sakura almost smiled. _Almost_.

These were Sakura's most favourite pictures- but she had come such a long way since they were taken, though. For one, she was an ANBU, now. Sakura touched her arm where the black tattoo was. She remembered how hard it had been, but she had managed. When she was told that she passed, she had thrown a huge party in celebration. It was a major accomplishment for her, and she remembered partying all night because of it.

Sakura sighed, thinking that maybe it would be best if she took a little walk. Her chakra and some of her strength had been restored, and she had taken a shower earlier that morning. She also felt much calmer today, which meant she could think much more clearly. She brought her pack with her- it was the last of her things, and she didn't want to risk leaving it here. Somebody might come snooping in her room and take her things- one could never be too careful, right? Or maybe she was just being a little paranoid. Either way, she decided she was bringing her pack along.

Sakura walked around the small town, browsing through the stores. She had packed some money, and she decided that maybe her clothes were a little worn out. If worse came to worst, she could always 'borrow' some money from the civilians when they weren't looking. She came across a nice store at the edge of the town, and purchased some clothes. It was basically the same thing she had on right now- a medic skirt, black shorts, the normal items.

"Thank you, miss. Please come again!" The storekeeper exclaimed, waving her off cheerily. Sakura forced a smile and left. She wondered if she could ever smile genuinely again. The upwards turning of her mouth felt so awkward, so out of place- as if it didn't belong there. Sakura sighed, not paying attention to where she was headed.

As she continued walking, she kept trying to smile. Needless to say, it was difficult. She tried remembering some happy and funny moments, but it only made her miss everybody all over again. The tears stung, but she blinked them back. She was finished with crying. It wasn't going to help her get stronger, and it definitely wasn't going to bring them back. There was no point in letting them escape her eyes. She tried forcing another one, but she knew it looked too awkward to pass off as one. In the end, she had failed.

Failed. It was something she should be accustomed to. Something that she had been doing all her life. She couldn't even _smile_, for goodness sake! Sakura frowned at the thought. She failed Sasuke. Failed Naruto. Failed Tsunade. Failed _herself_. She failed everyone! Why couldn't she get anything right? It wasn't fair. She had worked so hard. She had become ANBU. She was an amazing medic and yet she still couldn't get _anything_ right!

She found herself walking deeper and deeper into the forests. A part of her wished that some nasty creature would come out any second and consume her painlessly. She honestly wouldn't mind. There was nothing for her to live for, anyways. Nobody would miss her, and the people of Konoha probably already thought that their little medic was dead. She didn't want to think or remember anything anymore. Death sounded so peaceful, _lovely_ even.

It was something to look foreward to, now that she thought of it. There would be no more problems. No pain, or any suffering. Death would end it all. It would end _everything_. She wouldn't have to feel like crying anymore. She wouldn't have to remember the others and feel the aching pain in her chest. Nope, she would be completely free from it all. And as for the happy times- there weren't going to be anymore. Hell, she had already forgotten how to smile. How can she be happy?

Sakura sat down at the base of a tree and took out a kunai. She looked at the clean, metal edges, and brushed a finger down the sharpness of it. She didn't grunt in pain when a trickle of blood dripped from the small cut she had created. It glowed green for a moment and was immediately healed. It was as if the cut had never been there. Sakura sighed, throwing it up in the air, then catching it expertly. She looked more closely at the edges. It was strangely... _Inviting_.

What if... What if she killed herself? She was weary and tired from travelling. She still felt slightly weaker from fending off Orochimaru, and remembering the faces of her friends sent a jolt of pain through her chest. Remembering what Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi had told her before they died made her want to rip her heart out before she could feel it just shatter again. She wanted to join them, wherever they were. She wanted to see them smiling happily.

She wanted to see Naruto being the goofball that he was. To have Kakashi show up ten minutes after the time he was supposed to. She wanted to join Shikamaru, being as lazy as usual, watching the clouds stroll by. She wanted to fall into another one of Kiba's pranks, and chase him around Konoha for a good hour. She wanted to hear Ino talking about the latest gossip she had just heard. She just wanted them back, but that was too much to ask for.

The kunai was looking even more appealing. She slowly, and reluctantly held it up against her thraot. She closed her eyes for a moment, wondering if she could pull through with it. Was she being cowardly? She knew the others wouldn't want her to do this. They'd want her to move on and be happy- but Sakura didn't want to move on. She wanted them alive, happy, and as healthy as can be.

She couldn't be happy. No. Not without them there by her side. She heard some rustling in the bushes beside her, but payed no attention to it. If whatever it was decided it wanted her dead, then so be it. She was already welcoming death with open arms. She held the kunai closer to her throat and swallowed nervously, feeling the sharp edge at her skin.

This was it. This was her last moment.

"What the hell?!" Sakura heard someone exclaim. She opened her eyes and came face to face with a tall, blonde man dressed in an... Akatsuki robe? It was that Deidara guy, the one she had run into when we were rescuing Gaara. Beside him was another Akatsuki member. Sakura assumed it was a boy because of the short, messy black hair, but she couldn't see his face since it was being obscured by an orange and black mask.

The kunai was forgotten and Sakura sat there, staring incredulously at them. Why hadn't they killed her yet? "Hello, miss. Tobi is pleased to meet you." The guy with the mask exclaimed, extending his hand for Sakura to take. She stared at it with wide eyes, unsure what to do with it. Was he actually helping her up? Sakura could hardly believe it. A member of the_ Akatsuki_, an evil and crazy organization bent on taking over the world, was _helping _her off the ground.

Sakura looked up at Deidara, who didn't seem to recognize her yet. Her eyes narrowed and she glared at him- had tried to kill Naruto. Sweet, innocent Naruto. Naruto, the boy who was basically her brother. He had tried to kill her _brother_. Deidara rose an eyebrow at the menacing look that Sakura was currently giving him and took a step back. Sakura stood up, suddenly feeling stronger than before. She could feel the andrenaline pumping through her veins.

She wanted to do one important thing before she died. She would kill this akatsuki monster, before it could hurt anybody else. He tried killing Naruto, and now she was going to try and kill_ him_. It was only fair. Naruto was dead now, so why shouldn't this Deidara guy be? Why couldn't it be him dead instead Naruto? Sakura would rather have Deidara dead, anyways. Why did Naruto even _have_ to die? Sakura's head clouded with grief, and she couldn't think clearly. Her thoughts were mixed up and jumbled.

Her hands started glowing with Chakra, and her Sharingan was immediately turned on. Deidara and Tobi stepped back defensively. They had no idea who and what she was doing. Deidara looked curiously at her sharingan- how come she only had _one_? The only person he knew that only had one sharingan was the infamous copy-nin Kakashi.

Her pink hair was strange as well. He had seen only one girl with hair like that. She lived in Konoha though, which was quite far from where they were. Yeah, he remembered her. Sakura was her name, or something like that. He had left his old partner Sasori to deal with her and the old hag. He could barely believe it when he found out who the winner was.

He'd heard of the girl before, from the different places he had travelled in. She was supposedly the Hokage's apprentice, and was an amazing medic. She had super strength and was unbelievably good at controlling chakra. She was also said to be quite a talented kunoichi. But this frail looking girl couldn't be her. He was also sure that the Sakura girl didn't have a sharingan eye. They were green the last time he'd seen her. This girl's other eye was... Green?

Suddenly she lunged at him, barely even thinking now. She just acted. It didn't matter to her if she lost, really. It was a win-win situation for her at the moment. Kill, and know that she had done at least one thing right in her life, or be killed, and be rid of all her anguish. She let instinct control her body, causing her to lash out at him angrily.

Deidara dodged her fist by barely an inch, but he was so surprised he had left an opening. Sakura punched him in the side with a chakra infused fist, sending him through a couple of trees before he finally stopped. She had already knocked Tobi unconscious- the poor guy didn't knew what had hit him- and was coming towards him again. Deidara groaned and stood up in a fighting position. His ribs were hurting a lot, but they were miraculously still intact.

She had gotten both of them off guard, Deidara realized. He had made a crucial mistake of underestimating the girl before him. He glanced over at Tobi, trying to see if he was breathing. He saw his chest rise and fall in a steady rhythm, and he felt a little relief wash over him. He turned his attention back to the girl, who's facial features was now expressionless, though her eyes held grief, sorrow, anger, and confusion all in one. She seemed to be thinking to herself for a moment.

"What's your problem?!" Deidara decided to speak. Sakura snapped out of her trance and looked up at him with a puzzled expression. "We didn't do anything to you, yeah- in fact, we stopped you from cutting yourself over there. Were you trying to kill yourself?" He furrowed his eyebrows at the thought. "That's pathetic, yeah. Who are you, anyways?" He asked, curious. He had a suspicion that maybe this girl was the Sakura Haruno he had heard so much about.

"None of your business, Akatsuki." Sakura spat, glaring at him. Deidara shrugged and in just a second, he had a kunai pressed against the back of her neck with her arms held back. He wasn't going to kill her just yet, though. He wanted to ask a few more questions to the rebellious kunoichi glaring at him.

Deidara was surprised she attacked with the knowledge that he was Akatsuki. He smirked. They usually ran away in fear.

"I'll say it again, yeah. Who are you?" Deidara asked. Sakura didn't reply, and Deidara added a little pressure to the kunai, which caused 'Sakura' to disappear with a pop. Instead of holding Sakura, he was holding a log. He looked around, surprised she had been able to escape. He had to admit, she was a little tricky, but a little stunt like that didn't mean she was too talented, though. He scoffed. Anybody could've done that. The rumors about her were probably false.

"Sakura Haruno." Sakura exclaimed, stabbing a kunai into his arm from behind. Deidara grunted in pain and lunged at her, but she managed to dodge it. He immediately changed his mind- so maybe the rumors _were_ a little true. He hadn't sensed or heard her come at him at all. She suddenly disappeared again, and Deidara calmed down enough to hear something rumbling underneath him. He jumped out of the way just in time- Sakura herself had erupted from the ground, her kunai pointing upwards.

Deidara frowned. He was one of the most wanted shinobi around. He was part of the Akatsuki- an organization feared by _all_. He couldn't help but feel a little embarassed he had actually been hit, but the feeling quickly passed. The girl _was_ the hokage's apprentice. Besides, he was having too fun. The small girl was putting up quite a good fight- something he hadn't been able to have in quite a while. She was cute, too, now that he thought of it.

"Take this, yeah!" He exclaimed, as he threw down three clay spiders her way. Sakura ripped a large branch off of the tree nearest to her and swung it at the spiders, making them explode before they hit her. It was too small to even break through the branch, and she swung it towards Deidara, who jumped out of the way once again. He looked around to see if any of her friends were there to back her up, and found it strange when he saw none. "Why are you all alone?"

It seemed to hit something in Sakura, and she stopped swinging the huge tree branch for a moment. Now, not only did her head hurt, but so did her heart. The small moment didn't last long, because she suddenly squeezed the branch so hard it broke, splinters flying everywhere. She looked up, fury evident in her face. "I don't need to explain anything to _you_, you bastard!"

Deidara noticed this, and continued to press further on the subject. "Why, did all your friends _leave_ you? Is poor little Sakura-chan all by herself?" He asked, taunting her. He watched her expression change from anger, to sadness, and back to anger in just a few seconds. He really must've pissed her off to cause such a quick change.

"Shut up." Sakura growled, infuriated. How _dare_ he make fun of her. She threw a couple of exploding tags at him, but he dodged each one. She remembered her weapons scroll, but it was back in the pack quite a bit away. She was running out of weapons fast. She wanted Deidara dead more than anything in the world at the moment. She wanted to take her kunai and stab it through his throat, and watch gleefully as he slowly died a painful death. The blood would pour out of his wounds, and she would _laugh_.

"No, I won't, kunoichi." Deidara said, smirking when she growled again. He was having a lot of fun with this, actually. "I'm not surprised they left someone like _you_, yeah. I bet they're not coming back, either." He said. He didn't realize how much those words hurt her, and she simply stood there, looking down at the ground.

Why was she letting someone she barely even know make her feel like that? Sakura clenched her fists. He was right, though. They left her because she was too weak to protect them, and he was right about the second thing, too. _They were never coming back_. Sakura looked up at Deidara, and then away from him with a pained expression.

She didn't deserve to live. She didn't deserve to be happy. She looked back up and saw that Deidara was making something out of his clay, but even so, she didn't bother moving. She would let it explode as it came into contact with her. She would die, and she'd be with the others once again. She stood still, readying herself. She silently told herself that she would be with the others, soon.

Deidara noticed the expression on her face, and the sudden lifelessness of her, and wondered curiously what had triggered it. Maybe her friends really _had_ left and abandoned her. She wasn't even attacking him anymore. Deidara grew even more curious- there was simply _too_ many questions to ask. Questions about why anybody would abandon such an amazing kunoichi? He decided he wanted to try one more thing, a little experiment.

He infused the clay with some of his exploding chakra, but only enough that it would knock someone out. He threw it at her, and watched as she stood still, eyes closed, ready for the impact. Deidara rose an eyebrow as the explosion had knocked her out just as he had expected. He didn't think she would _wait_ for it to hit her.

He cautiously walked towards the girl, unsure if she was faking it or not. When he saw the green chakra, he immediately took out a kunai, expecting her to jump up and attack him, but when she did not, he wandered a little closer. The burns she had received from the small explosion were starting to heal. He nudged her shoulder with the end of his feet, but she didn't react or anything. She was knocked out cold.

Deidara stood above the pink haired kunoichi, who was looking as helpless as when he had first found her with the kunai pressed against her throat, and contemplated on what to do. To be honest, he was quite interested in the girl. He wanted to ask her exactly what had happened to make her willing to end her own life. It had to be horrible, considering she was such a great kunoichi, known everywhere. Probably even places she had never been to or heard about.

Deidara decided he'd bring her along, and he figured that he'd be able to control her better with Tobi. And if she tried to escape, then so be it. It didn't matter to him if she lived or not. If she did decide to stay, however highly unlikely the chances were, then he was sure the Akatsuki wouldn't mind letting her join. They've been needing a medic for quite a while, actually, and she was known as second best. Tsunade, one of the legendary sannin was first of course.

He threw her over his shoulder and headed over to Tobi to wake him. He nudged Tobi with his foot, causing him to wake slowly. Deidara ordered him to bring the pack Sakura had left behind the tree- she'd probably want that. "Is Pinkhair-chan going to be travelling with Deidara and Tobi?" Tobi asked, sounding excited as he picked up her small pack. He wouldn't mind having the pretty pink haired girl travel with them- even though she did knock him out. He would forgive her for that.

"Her name is Sakura, Tobi. And she will be travelling with us, yeah." Deidara replied, causing Tobi to grin behind his mask. He was glad that he finally had some other person to talk to other than Deidara-senpai. Deidara-senpai was always mean to Tobi, so hopefully Sakura-chan wouldn't be. He would become friends with the pretty pink haired miss.

Deidara and Tobi took off in haste, with Sakura on Deidara's shoulder. Tobi had asked if he could have a turn carrying her, but Deidara refused to hand her over, saying that Tobi might drop her. Tobi whined for a little while, but Deidara shook his head- his decision was final. He was going to be the one carrying the kunoichi. She wasn't too heavy, and it seemed as if she hadn't been eating for a while.

They were able to travel through the forest for about twenty minutes before Sakura started stirring. "Am I dead?" She asked, looking around, confused. She was moving, but how? She then realized that why she was moving was because she had been captured, and her captor was wearing an Akatsuki cloak. She started struggling, and Deidara stopped. "Put me down." Sakura demanded, angrily.

"I don't think you want me t-"

"I _said_, put me down!" Sakura interrupted him, and Deidara shrugged, dropping her down into the shallow part of the river. They had been travelling through the tree tops, in a northern direction. They just so happened to be above the river when Sakura had ordered to be let go. "What the hell was that for?!" Sakura exclaimed, furious. She let out a frustrated cry.

"You told me to, yeah." Deidara replied, jumping down from his branch and onto the dirt. Tobi jumped down too, offering Sakura a hand again. She smacked it away, and got up herself. She glared at Deidara, who rose an eyebrow. "What are you mad at me for?"

Sakura didn't reply to that, and instead asked a question of her own. "Why didn't you kill me?" She asked, sounding more angry than confused. She started shivering, and Tobi took off his cloak and offered it to her as well. She looked at it as if it was poisonous, but said a polite "No thank you". She wasn't going to accept anything from the 'bad guys'.

"We didn't have a reason to, yeah. Besides, I wanted you alive to ask a few questions." Deidara replied, watching her try to warm herself up. Her clothes were ripped and dripping wet, and Deidara sighed, feeling sorry for her. "Take the cloak, yeah. You'll get sick." She stared at him in shock. Why was he acting all concerned? Her small moment of shock ended and she resumed to being the stubborn girl she was.

"No, I'll be f-fine." She replied, her teeth chattering. The river was freezing, and she had landed on her ass. "A-and what type of q-questions? I-I'm not g-giving you any i-information on K-Konoha, if that's w-what you're th-thinking." She said, rubbing her hands up and down her bare arms. She used some of her chakra to keep the flow of her blood moving to keep warm, but it wasn't working fast enough.

Deidara sighed and took off his cloak, wrapping it around Sakura, who was protesting against it. When she realized how warm it was, she immediately stopped, wrapping it even more tightly around herself. She looked over at Deidara suspiciously. Just because he let her use his cloak, it didn't mean she was willing to spill anything. He rolled his eyes at her obvious suspicion. He wasn't going to harm her, unless she attacked or anything. And even if she _did_ attack, she'd most likely hurt herself more, anyways.

"No, just about why you were holding your kunai to your throat, yeah." He said, and Sakura's eyes widened before she looked down. She bit her lip, wondering if it would be okay to tell him. Did it even matter anymore? And was talking to him willingly some kind of treason to Konoha? Even though she wasn't really a part of Konoha anymore, she still felt like she had to be loyal to the village she had grown up in.

She started to become curious, too. Why was he helping her, anyways? Would he kill her after she answered his question? There was too many questions that _she_ wanted to ask. "I... I don't need to tell you." Sakura said, looking away. It was obvious whatever had happened was still fresh in her head. Deidara felt a little pang in his chest at seeing the girl like this. He didn't care, though. Of _course_ not. He was only pitying her. "Are you... Are you going to kill me?"

"Do you want me to?" Deidara asked. With this said, Tobi stood up in front of Sakura defensively, saying that he didn't want her dead. Sakura was beyond confused, but she wasn't sure what she really wanted. She already would've been dead if it hadn't been for them. She wanted to know more about them, now, but at the same time she still wanted to end everything.

"It doesn't matter." Sakura replied, and Deidara shrugged, saying that he won't. "What are you going to do to me, then?" Sakura asked, still a little suspicious. She wasn't about to be taken advantage of, if that's what they were planning to do. She'd put up a pretty good fight before that would ever happen.

"I don't know. I'm still wondering why you're all alone." Deidara replied. He was genuinely interested in what her reasons were- and he had a pretty damn good reason. Here, standing in front of him, was one of the most known kunoichi in the world- and she would have killed herself if _he_ hadn't interfered. Things like this weren't common, and he had been quite bored lately.

"Oh, I see... How come you aren't hurting or torturing me, then?" She asked, _still_ suspicious. They could've been playing everything up to get information about... About Naruto. Maybe they were trying to gain her trust, and then ask her questions about him. He was probably only concerned about the nine tailed demon that was inside of her friend. Too bad for him, though. Akatsuki would never be able to get their hands on it, now.

"That's not my style, yeah. That's more like Kisame and Itachi, if you ask me." Deidara replied, sitting down on a large rock and throwing some pebbles into the water. Sakura, still not completely trusting, asked him what _his_ style was. Deidara grinned, "My style? It's _art_, yeah." He threw some of his clay bombs into the air and watched as it exploded, sparks flying everywhere. Sakura couldn't help but stare up at it- it really _was_ a form of art. The large flash of colours, gone in just an instant. She had to admit, she liked it.

"It's going to get dark soon, yeah. Tobi, let's get going." Deidara exclaimed, standing up. Tobi nodded, and handed Sakura her pack. She took it, mumbling a little thanks in return. She wondered what she would do, now. Should she follow them? Or walk around aimlessly until she either found a village or got killed? None of them really sounded too appealing anymore.

"What about me?" Sakura asked, more to herself than to anybody else. Tobi suggested that she came along with him and Deidara, while Deidara shrugged, saying he didn't really care. Deciding that she had nothing left to lose, she tagged along, as silent as ever. Tobi welcomed her and immediately started talking. Sakura stayed quiet and let him talk. She wasn't really paying attention since she was too busy thinking to herself.

Did this count as betraying Konoha? Why did it even matter, anyways? She was dead to them, now. She was also _free._ She could do anything she wanted. She could start a new life, or end it as soon as possible. She sighed, unsure of what to do. She wished desperately that she could have someone else decide for her. Usually her Inner helped with tough decisions like this, but when all friends had died, apparently so had her Inner.

She had no idea what she was doing, or where she was going, but following these two could be a start to _something_. Would her friends have agreed with her decision? It's not like she would ever know- they were gone, now. Sakura sighed inwardly. She had to stop thinking about them too much. She would have to move on at one point. It's what they would've wanted her to do.

Sakura was so deep in thought that she didn't realize that both Deidara and Tobi had stopped in front of her, causing her to crash straight into their backs. "Ow!" She exclaimed, stumbling back a little before falling on her butt for the second time today. She looked to see what had made them stop, and found that they were staring at, well, empty space. She looked up at Deidara, waiting for an explanation.

"Let's set up camp, yeah." Deidara exclaimed. "I'll go out and get some food- Tobi, you set up the tents. And pinky, you set up the fire, yeah." He smirked when he saw Sakura's distaste at the nickname he had given her. She opened her mouth and was about to say something, but she decided that it wasn't worth wasting a breath on, and picked herself up, headed into the trees to gather some wood.

Sakura quickly got the fire going, and had piled some extra wood a few feet away for later on. She then helped Tobi set up the tents, much to Tobi's delight. He started chatting away while Sakura stayed silent, listening. She hadn't expected any of the Akatsuki to be anything like Tobi. He was talkative, sweet, polite, and quite cheerful- but that didn't mean she trusted _or_ liked him just yet. Looks could be deceiving. Every ninja knew that.

"Sakura-chan, don't you miss your village?" Tobi asked, tilting his head to the side. That was a stupid question. Of couse she did- it was where she grew up and met her friends. Sakura nodded her head slightly, and Tobi sighed. "Tobi doesn't remember where he came from. Sakura-chan is lucky she remembers."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Tobi." Sakura replied, though she had to disagree with him. She knew exactly who was the luckier one, and it definitely wasn't her. He didn't have to remember all the ones who he left behind, or the ones who left _him_ behind- but then again, she had the wonderful memories she wouldn't trade for anything in the world. Her thoughts wandered over to the picture in Konoha, with everybody at the festival. They all shared so many great times, and they were _supposed_ to share more.

"Sakura-chan doesn't have to be sorry. It wasn't her fault." Tobi said, sounding a little sad. Sakura fought the urge to pat his back in comfort. She shouldn't even be feeling sorry for this criminal. Akatsuki was an evil, despicable organization. They went out killing people for the greedy purpose of taking over the world. They went on missions, assasinating people, stealing things...

Something that all ninja do.

Now that she thought of it, it didn't really seem like it was that evil. They had missions to do, goals to achieve, things common with any other ninja. There wasn't really anything too special about them besides the fact they've been giving Konoha trouble, and that their main objective was to take over the world with the demons- though I highly doubt that would ever happen. And since Naruto's gone, the nine-tails is, too.

Tobi was now chatting happily about 'his Deidara-senpai', the greatest, but meanest partner in the world- according to him. He told Sakura how Deidara was very mean to him, and usually sent him exploding clay birds that looked very much like real ones. Suddenly a little brown and white bird came hopping towards us. Sakura furrowed her eyebrows as she examined it. It was such a peculiar looking thing- she was sure she'd never seen a bird look like that. It hopped towards Tobi, who reached out to touch it, but before his hand made contact, the bird exploded, sending sparks everywhere. It was a harmless explosive, but the two jumped nonetheless.

"See what Tobi means, Sakura-chan? Deidara-senpai can be such a bully." Tobi exclaimed, probably pouting. Sakura couldn't tell because his face was hidden behind the mask. Why didn't he take it off? There was no one around them, anyways. She doubted he could be too ugly, but she'd been wrong before. She watched as Deidara walked in, carrying six, dead fishes in his hands, and a kunai in his mouth.

"Tobi is a bad boy." He said, hitting Tobi over the head with one of the fish. Tobi yelped, rubbing his head in obvious pain. Had it been different people, Sakura just might've laughed, but it wasn't. It was Tobi and Deidara, two dangerous, S-Class criminals. She rose an eyebrow at their behaviour, but didn't comment on it or anything. It would probably be better if she acted like a good little girl for now.

"Ouch, Deidara-senpai! That wasn't very nice at all." Tobi whined. Deidara told him to suck it up or else he wouldn't share any of his fish with him. Tobi immediately became silent- he was obviously hungry. Sakura watched as Deidara started cooking to fish over the fire. She could smell it from where she was sitting and her mouth started watering. She hadn't eaten all day, she realized. Suddenly Sakura's stomach grumbled and Deidara and Tobi both looked up at her, Deidara had a smirk on his face. She immediately blushed, embarassed.

"Well somebody is obviously hungry, yeah." Deidara said, his smirk still on his face. Sakura's face turned even more red, and Deidara chuckled. Sakura was still confused about everything- they definitely weren't anything she had expected. He tossed her a fish, which she expertly caught, and took a bite into it, savouring the taste. She didn't bother checking if it was poisoned or not- it didn't matter to her. She was one of the greatest medics- she could handle a bit of poison.

She ate her fish in silence, wondering exactly what she had gotten herself into. Deidara and Tobi, they hadn't asked any questions about Konoha or the war- hell, they probably haven't even heard of the war with Orochimaru yet. She sat there, staring at her half-eaten fish, and she suddenly didn't feel so hungry anymore. "Are you going to eat that?" Tobi asked, poking her side. She sighed, shaking her head and then handed the fish over to Tobi, who took it happily.

Sakura took a stick and started poking at the fire, reminiscing about the times she had done the very same thing she was doing, except with Naruto and Sai. Right now they would be arguing over something stupid, like who had a bigger dick, and Sakura would be the one to break the two idiots apart. Then they would shut up for only a moment before Sai would make another off-handed comment about either her or Naruto, which would start another argument. She never would've thought she'd be missing something so unbearably annoying as Sai and Naruto fighting, but she did. Tears stung her eyes but she quickly wiped them away.

Her little motion didn't go unnoticed by Deidara, who was currently eating his third fish. He was even more curious about what had happened to cause the kunoichi so much pain. He knew that she didn't trust him in the slightest, and she probably wasn't going to for a long while, but he was willing to wait. Unlike Sasori, he could say that he was actually quite patient.

Deidara sat there, examining the petite woman. She was an adult, but was probably a great deal younger than him. He took a look at her hair, wondering if the bright pink was really natural. He had never in his life seen someone with such an exotic hair colour. He also noticed that her right eye was a deep shade of emerald green, and her left was a dark, almost black colour. Both were sparkling because of the tears threatening to spill. He was tempted to ask again, but decided to leave her alone for now. Tobi obviously didn't even consider giving the girl some peace because he slung an arm over her shoulder, asking if she was okay.

Sakura nodded, saying she was fine, and shrugged off Tobi's arm from his shoulder. She got up, mumbling something about going to to the stream to wash up for a bit. She didn't even wait for a reply and simply walked off in the direction of the stream. She really needed to clear her mind. She absolutely refused to cry in front of the Akatsuki. Deidara watched her leave, wanting to know how she had obtained the Sharingan- she wasn't an Uchiha, that was for certain.

Sakura sat by the stream, washing her face and mouth quickly. She looked at her reflection in the water and sighed. Her hair was starting to grow out again- it would be time to cut it soon. She found a large boulder hanging over the water and decided to sit on it, taking off her sandals and dipping her feet into the cool water. It relaxed her a bit, and she shut her eyes for a moment, listening quietly.

She could hear the trees and bushes rustling because of the wind, and the grasshoppers chirping. It was times like this Sakura could really feel peaceful. A frog croaked, and jumped beside her. It reminded her greatly of the ones Naruto had always summoned. "Hey there, little guy." She murmured, and the frog sat still, staring at her. It croaked one last time before jumping back into the water. "I miss them." She murmured to herself again.

The water was cold, colder than how the skin felt on the corpses she had came across the other day. It was liquid ice, freezing her feet until it became numb. Cold and numb. Two words that perfectly described how she felt that instant. She took her feet out of the water, examining her now wrinkley toes. She hadn't realized how long she had left it in there. Sakura decided that maybe it was time to head back and go to sleep.

By the time Sakura had come back to camp, the fire was almost out and Tobi and Deidara were nowhere to be seen. She glanced at the two tents, wondering which she would be sleeping in, or if she would be sleeping outside. It was chilly, and she decided to risk going into the one to her right. The inside of the small tent was completely pitch black, and as she crawled around, she realized that nobody was in it except for her. She yawned, realizing just how tired she actually was, and settled down on one side of the tent, pulling the cloak around her for warmth. In a matter of minutes, Sakura's breathing had evened out and she was fast asleep.

Tobi and Deidara came out from the forest a few minutes later, both now washed up and ready to go to sleep. They had travelled to a different part of the stream to give Sakura some privacy- who knows what she would have done if she had thought they were peaking in on her. Tobi yawned, and crawled into the tent closest to him. "Good night Deidara-senpai! Good night Sakura-chan!" He exclaimed, before settling down to sleep. Deidara yawned, tired as well. He crawled into his bed, currently unaware of Sakura.

He had assumed that Sakura was in Tobi's tent, but when he felt something soft and warm, he immediately flinched, completely surprised. He wondered if he should just sleep outside and give the girl some space, but he was much too exhausted, and he would way rather be sleeping in the tent than out in the open. Besides, he had caught the food- he _deserved_ to sleep in the tent. He settled down on the other side of the tent, making sure that there was no contact between the two of them in any way. Exhaustion soon took over his body and Deidara fell asleep.

* * *

_"Ino, back me up!" Sakura yelled as three sound shinobi lunged at her. She dodged both, punching one of them in the stomach, causing him to fall back, gasping for air. She had barely used any chakra in that, and he was already on his knees. Sakura grinned at this, and she quickly turned, kicking her other opponent in the head. She heard the crack as the impact broke his neck and killed him instantly. Ino ran up to Sakura, she was covered in cuts and bruises everywhere. She threw a kunai straight into the back of the last shinobi, killing him as well._

_They had been fighting for hours on end, now- who knew Orochimaru had recruited so many ninja? Even with Konoha's ally Sand, they were still having a very difficult time handling everything that was going on. Sakura sighed as she watched Ino heal herself- she was still a medic in training, and they were both near the back of all the fighting because Konoha couldn't afford to lose too many medic-nins. Every once in a while, a few of Orochimaru's men would somehow snake their way through and reach them._

_"I want to be up where Kakashi and Naruto and Sai are." Sakura exclaimed, worried. She wanted to be fighting with her boys, but they had forced her to stay back, afraid for her safety. She had made quite a big fit, arguing angrily that she could very well take care of herself, but they didn't buy it. Now, though, they couldn't stop her. Not when they weren't around to hold her back. "There's much more action there, and I know I'll be able to handle it..." She murmured to herself. She really wanted to go. _

_"Then go, Sakura. Nobody's holding you back. Just... Just be careful, okay forehead?" Ino asked, looking at Sakura sadly. It may just be the last time the two would ever speak to each other again, they realized. Sakura nodded, thanking her with a hug. When they let go of each other, they bowed their heads, unable to say their last good bye. Sakura then ran towards the front of the lines. She was determined to reach the others in time and help as much as she could. She was sick of being in the back- she was a capable fighter!_

_As she ran farther a head, she saw more fighting, more injuries, more death. She fought her way through, slicing through each of her opponents with a sword she had picked up a little way behind. Her training with Tenten had definitely paid off, that was for sure. She soon made it to the front, where most of the fighting was happening. Both sides of the war seemed equal in power, and she continued fighting her way through, looking for her team._

_"Sakura. It's been a long time." _

_It was that voice. That low, silky voice that had haunted her dreams when she was younger. Sakura turned around to find Sasuke staring at her. She hadn't seen him in years, not since Naruto, Sai, Yamato and her had seen him back on that mission. She was about to say something when he suddenly lunged at her, his weapon ready._

_She immediately blocked it with her sword, her eyes filled with hurt and confusion. Would he really try to kill her? She had loved him, cared for him, held a fiery passion for him, and he was going to throw it all away? Would he really try to end her efforts of bringing him back? He simply couldn't. Sakura furrowed her eyebrows in concentration. The final battle, this war, it was going to decide whether her training was enough. She was not going to let everything she had worked so hard for waste away._

_"You've been training, I see." He said, sounding mildly impressed. He lunged at her again, except in a faster, super human speed. Sakura dodged him- she hadn't trained with the Hokage for nothing. The two fought for a while, unable to land even one hit on one another. "Amazing, really." Sasuke murmured, barely loud enough for Sakura to hear. Was that softness in his voice? Sakura could barely believe her ears. He had just complimented her. Sasuke-kun never did that._

_They both paused for a moment, looking into each other's eyes. There were so many emotions running through his face, Sakura could barely keep up. Sadness, loneliness, worry, fear, and was that love? There were many more she hadn't been able to recognize as well. He slowly raised his hand to touch her cheek, gently, and she didn't bother stopping him. Here, in front of Sakura, was the boy she had fallen in love with years ago. Suddenly they heard a low chuckle, and Sasuke's arm dropped to his sides._

_"Why isn't it little Sakura-chan. My, you've grown since I have last seen you." Orochimaru exclaimed, walking up to Sasuke from behind. He placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, and Sakura saw him immediately tense. She watched as the kunai and shuriken that were thrown in Orochimaru's direction were immediately deflected by snakes he had summoned. Everybody around them were so occupied with their own fights, though, that none tried attacking him personally. Sakura took a cautious step back- could she really beat Orochimaru? One of the legendary sannin? It had taken her years to finally surpass Tsunade-sama, but she had been growing older and older. Orochimaru switched into younger, more stronger bodies. He had an advantage._

_Suddenly a snake lashed out at Sakura, causing her to stumble back in surprise. Orochimaru laughed, and Sakura looked at Sasuke with pleading eyes. All emotion was gone from his face, and Sakura took another step back. What had happened? There had been something there just a few seconds ago, and then it completely disappeared. Sakura bit her lip as she cautiously moved backwards some more, making sure her eyes never left the two. Where was Kakashi? And Naruto? She hadn't been able to find them yet._

_"Sasuke. Hurry up and kill her." Orochimaru said, as he deflected another kunai coming straight at him. Sakura looked back at Sasuke, unsure of what he was going to do. She couldn't tell what he was thinking or feeling since his face was expressionless. His eyes turned hard as he readied himself to fight her. Sakura went into a more defensive position and waited for him to attack first. She doubted he actually would, but she didn't want to risk it. She suddenly had an idea, and she began to speak._

_"Sasuke, please. You don't have to do this." Sakura exclaimed, hoping desperately he wouldn't try to kill her that moment. "Leave Orochimaru. Come with me, I'll make you happy! I swear it!" She continued. She suddenly started getting emotional, and tears appeared, threatening to spill. Sasuke's face still stayed emotionless, but Sakura continued on. "You can't get your revenge on your brother. Don't you get it? Revenge isn't going to stop there. You're going to want more. More blood, more killing. Sasuke, you have to stop. You don't understand-"_

_"No, Sakura. You're the one who doesn't understand." Sasuke replied, calmly. He was hiding his emotions, Sakura was absolutely sure of it. "You've never had everybody you've loved killed by your own brother. Someone you trusted, someone you looked up to. I loved my brother, Sakura, and he tortured me- took everything I had. He made me go through a living hell. You will never understand my pain or the rage after learning exactly what he had done. I need to kill Itachi no matter what." Sasuke continued, his voice slightly shakier by the end of his sentence._

_"I may have never felt your pain, but I understand what revenge is, and going through with it will not solve anything. It's a cycle, Sasuke. It's never going to end. You'll feel empty inside, just like you do, now." Sasuke was about to open his mouth to reply but Sakura wouldn't let him. "You cannot honestly tell me you're happy like this. I refuse to believe it. Just let it go, and start a new life. One with me, and Naruto, and Kakashi-sensei. We can go back to Konoha, together. We'll be happy, Sasuke." Sakura said, blinking back the tears. His expression wavered for a second, but hardened just as fast._

_"No. I've trained too hard to stop-"_

_"Then use your skills for good! Please, Sasuke, listen to me." Sakura exclaimed, almost trembling now. "Look around you! This is what revenge is- utter destruction. Everybody gets hurt because of revenge, even the innocent ones." She took a step towards him. "There are people who still care about you. Who love you, and would die for you. Please, Sasuke... Don't you want to be happy?" She asked, softly. Sakura had slowly been walking towards him until they were barely even a foot apart. _

_"I... I want..."_

_Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows, and his mouth turned into a confused frown. He didn't know what to do, what to think. He didn't even know what he wanted at the moment. __"Sasuke..." Sakura murmured, before closing the gap. He stood still for a moment, shocked at what was happening. He returned the kiss gently, unsure of what to do. When he felt her tongue run over her lips,__ he knew, at that moment, exactly what he wanted. __The kiss became more passionate, heated, but suddenly they were pulled apart._

_"You've let this girl distract you long enough, Sasuke. I'm afraid I'm going to have to dispose of her before it gets too far." Orochimaru exclaimed, preparing to attack Sakura. She took a step back, terrified at what he would do. Suddenly Sasuke stepped in front of her, demanding that she would not be hurt. Her eyes widened in surprise- just a moment ago he was ready to kill her. "I'm afraid I can't do that, Sasuke." Orochimaru replied, a sick grin plastered on his face. "Now get out of my way."_

_"No." Sasuke replied, defiantly. Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. The kid was rebellious, rude, and sometimes even disrespectful, but when it came to killing, he usually did as was told._

_"I said get out of my way." Orochimaru replied, sounding irritated. Every so often there would be kunai, shuriken, and other weapons that would come, aimed towards Orochimaru. He had to deflect each one as he waited for Sasuke to kill Sakura. Orochimaru__ was tired of waiting. There was no end to the waiting, waiting, waiting! He could see why Sasori had hated it so much!_

_He was tired of waiting for Sasuke to kill Itachi, so he could finally transfer into his body. He was tired of Sasuke and his uncontrollable temper. He was tired of his disobedience, especially the way he thought he could do anything he pleased. Orochimaru was tired of everything. He only had so much patience. _

_"I won't." Sasuke replied, causing Orochimaru to sigh. 'Sasuke-kun' had threw away his last chance, Orochimaru decided. Now he simply couldn't wait anymore._

_"Then have it your way." He replied, opening his mouth. A snake shot forth, and out of the snake's mouth was a sword, which pierced through Sasuke immediately. Sakura had leapt out of the way in time. Sasuke coughed up blood, surprised that Orochimaru had actually attacked him. Orochimaru pulled the sword back into his mouth, causing Sasuke to grunt in pain. Sakura gasped, running back to heal him immediately._

_"You bastard." Sasuke exclaimed, as soon as Sakura had healed him. He lunged at Orochmaru with his sword drawn, and a battle erupted between the two. Sakura could only sit there and watch as the two attacked each other. Sasuke was Orochimaru's equal. They fought long and hard, barely able to land blows upon one another. Suddenly Orochimaru turned to face Sakura with a sly grin, and Sakura backed up._

_Sasuke saw him look at her and growled, fiercely. There was no way he was going to let Orochimaru touch her. "Don't you dare." He hissed, but Orochimaru paid no heed and lunged at Sakura. She froze, completely forgetting everything. All her hard work and intense training- all was forgotten at that moment. She closed her eyes and waited for her death to come and-_

* * *

Sorry there wasn't any romance in the chapter or anything, but it wouldn't have been realistic if there was. I don't believe in love at first sight so I guess there's not going to be any of that in my story.

Sorry if it seems to just keep going on. This chapter was originally meant to be part of the first, but I decided to seperate the two and make this one longer. At first it was only 7000 words, so I had to add more things.

Well, I hope you enjoyed it so far! Please review!


	3. Emotional Disaster

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto of it's characters.

Thanks for the reviews! I know the story's not that great right now, but I promise it will get better. Hopefully my writing skills aren't too bad and that everbody will give this a chance. I have the entire plot planned out, I just need the time to write all the chapters.

* * *

"Sasuke!" Sakura exclaimed, her eyes wide. Her breathing was ragged, and she took a few seconds to realize that everything had been a dream. She calmed down, breathing in and out slowly, when she noticed something warm and long around her waist. Deidara? Or Tobi? Either way, one of them was pressed up against her back at the moment in an uncomfortable position.

She tried moving the arm over gently, but it just tightened its hold around her waist, pulling her closer to the man holding her. She felt him nuzzle her neck, and she started squirming. She didn't want to wake him up, just in case he forgotten the events of last night and immediately tried to kill her- as well as the fact that he had let her share the tent with him.

Suddenly she felt something wet and slimy on her exposed mid-section. She brought her hands to her mouth to muffle the scream, and unluckily for her, the man just pulled her closer, murmuring something unintelligible. She took a closer look at it and realized it was Deidara's mouths. She sighed, relieved. She didn't care about his hands- it was part of him. Just like the Kyuubi was part of Naruto, and the Shukaku had been a part of Gaara. She didn't find anything to be disgusted about. She waited a few moments, wondering what to do next. It didn't seem like Tobi was up yet, and she was still a little tired, so she decided to rest her eyes for just a moment.

Sakura was asleep in no time, curled up against Deidara, who had been awake the entire time. He had to suppress the laugh threatening to burst out of him at the moment- it was funny playing with her. The expression on her face when he licked her was simply priceless, and how she would carefully try to move his arm with no success left Deidara wanting to laugh more than ever.

It hadn't started out as a little joke, though. He had woken up to her tossing and turning in the middle of the night. She had kept muttering something about a 'Sasuke-kun' and at one point she even started crying. He was still extremely exhausted at the time and hadn't cared about what he did, as long as he could finally get some sleep. Without trying to wake her up, he simply placed an arm around her and brought her closer to him for comfort. She almost immediately stopped, curling into his warmth. She continued muttering things as she slept, but she wasn't as restless anymore.

Now, however, he was fully awake. He tried moving to the side a little but Sakura suddenly turned around, facing him. She somehow managed to unconsciously move her head underneath his chin, and Deidara blushed, not used to such intimate contact. He decided that his little game had gone far enough so he stood up slowly, making sure he didn't disturb her too much.

As he sat up, he quickly observed her. Her pink hair was scattered everywhere, and her lips were parted slightly. He had to admit, the girl was cute, but when she was awake her eyes looked so tired, so dead. He didn't care about that, though. That was her problem, not his. She was just fun to annoy, and entertaining to watch. He was curious, though. He'd admit that.

Yeah, that was was all. It couldn't hurt to have a skilled medic and kunoichi on his side, anyways. She would be very useful. And if she became too much trouble to take care of, then he would simply dispose of her. He decided that it really wasn't that big of a deal, anyways. Deidara stretched his arms a bit, deciding to head to the stream to catch breakfast.

"Tobi, you awake?" Deidara asked as he crawled out of his tent. When he heard Tobi's snoring reply, he rolled his eyes. Tobi always slept in. A mischevious grin suddenly spread across his face and he climbed back in his tent to grab a handful of clay. He fashioned a spider out of the material, and pumped a small amount of chakra into it, then set it free towards Tobi's tent. He watched, grinning widely the entire time, as the spider slowly crawled into the tent.

"What are you doing?"

Deidara jumped a bit, surprised. He turned around to see Sakura, her head poking through the tent. She rubbed her eyes sleepily, and Deidara shrugged, saying he was just waking Tobi up. "Oh, really? How?" She asked, curious. It didn't seem like he was doing anything but watching the tent. As if on cue, a loud 'pop' was heard and the tent seemed to inflate with air, then die down right after. After a moment of waiting, Tobi's snoring could be heard again.

"That kid could sleep through anything." Deidara said, and Sakura rose an eyebrow. He sent a bomb into Tobi's tent? The guy was crazy. Sakura crawled out of the tent, standing up to stretch a bit. She had been having nightmares every day, and she was starting to get sick of them. They felt so real- she could hear, see, and even touch them in her dream.

She shuddered at the memory of it all, and Deidara glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. He was still as curious as ever, and her little action hadn't gone unnoticed. He wondered how the other Akatsuki would react to the girl. He was sure that they wouldn't mind having a new medic- the Hokage's apprentice, nonetheless- join their organization. She was definitely strong enough to make it in, and her perfect chakra control was well sought out for.

"I'll get the food." Sakura suddenly exclaimed, stretching. Deidara had been planning to go instead, but she was offering... Hell, he decided that he'd go along with her. "You don't need to come. I can get the food by myself, you know." Sakura said, as Deidara started walking alongside her. The stream wasn't too far away. There was probably plenty of fish, there.

"I've got nothing to do, yeah. And I can practice my art here." Deidara replied. Sakura nodded, staying silent. She didn't feel like talking at the moment. She didn't feel anything, just numbness. Catching fish was a good way to distract her, and to keep her mind off of thinking too hard. Maybe Deidara's explosions would help, too.

The couple soon reached the stream, and Deidara took out some clay. He started molding random things- bugs, birds, fish. He glanced at Sakura, who was splashing around in the water, trying to catch as many fish as she could. She would plunge her hand in the water, and just as fast as it had gotten in, her hand would appear out of the water holding a fish. The splash was always so quick, so fast- almost like a _bang_. Like an _explosion_. Excitement found its way to him as he watched her.

He had an idea- why didn't he sculpt _her_? She wouldn't have to know. He'd just blow it up right away, anyways. She seemed fairly easy enough to sculpt as it is. He took out a normal amount of clay and started working at it. His fingers worked nimbly and fast with practiced ease. When he finished, he compared the two to each other. He bit his lip in irritation. There was something missing.

It just wasn't right. He knew it wasn't the colors- he knew he wouldn't be able to get that, but that wasn't it. There was just something... He couldn't figure out what, so he gave up. It was only a stupid sculpture after all, right? He scoffed. "What are you making?" Deidara looked up, surprised to see Sakura standing before him. He must have been concentrating deeply to have not noticed her sneak up to him. It was a good thing she was currently on his side.

"A sculpture." Deidara replied, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Sakura raised an eyebrow at him. She couldn't help but notice how eerily the sculpture looked like her. When Deidara saw the look she was giving him, he sighed, still irritated. "I was sculpting you, okay? Don't think too much about it. I was about to blow it up but then _you_ interrupted me." He said, somewhat harshly.

"Oh, I see." Sakura replied, quietly. She watched as the sculpture of her exploded into different shades of red, orange, and yellow. Did he really have to snap back at her? She had asked politely, expressing her curiosity. She was tempted to snap back at him, but she decided against it. She wasn't in the mood to start an argument, or, well, to do anything at all. She didn't catch the _almost_ sorry look he gave her. He hadn't meant to be that harsh, but he didn't want her to think he was too soft or anything.

She wondered why he was so irritable this morning. He was nice enough to let her tag along, yet now he was blowing up mini versions of herself. If he didn't want her to come along, then why didn't he just leave or kill her? Sakura mentally rolled her eyes- men were so confusing. This guy was no different, from what she could tell. She glanced back at the clear, running water behind her. She could spot some fish swimming along.

"How many fish have you caught so far?" Deidara asked, deciding to change the subject quickly. His tone hadn't softened much, but it was still slightly evident. He may be part of the Akatsuki, but it didn't mean he was a bad person. Sakura held up five large fish, ready to be cooked. Deidara nodded in approval, "That'll be enough." He exclaimed, and Sakura nodded back. She started walking back, leaving Deidara to sit by the river for a while.

He sat there thinking about what he was getting himself into by getting involved with the kunoichi. The last time they'd met, she had been so alive. Her emotions had been so obvious and clear to him. Deidara was nosy. He was also obnoxious, annoying, overconfident and somewhat full of himself. At least he could admit it. He never gives up, either. When he wanted to know something, he made sure he was going to find out, and currently he wanted to know what happened to Sakura.

He was going to ask her bluntly during breakfast, while they were eating the fish she had caught. "Deidara-sempai?" Deidara heard Tobi exclaim a few meters off. Deidara grinned mischeviously, an idea coming to him. He headed towards the direction of the camp, in a way that he avoided Tobi altogether. "Deidara-sempai? Where are you?" Tobi's voice was sounding further and further away.

"Fuck!" Sakura exclaimed, accidentally burning herself. She immediately stuck her finger in her mouth and sucked at it, channelling chakra into the burn at the same time. Deidara snickered, commenting on her use of language. She blushed, slightly embarassed, and Deidara couldn't help but grin at her expression. She set the slightly burnt fish on top of a rock deemed clean enough for the food.

"Where's Tobi?" She asked, and Deidara shrugged, turning away so that she couldn't see the grin on his face. "Well hopefully he comes soon, otherwise everything's going to get cold." She murmured, mainly to herself. Deidara could do nothing but nod, afraid he'd spill his cover if he accidentally burst out laughing or something of the sort. He grabbed a fish that wasn't too charred and bit into it. To his surprise, it actually wasn't that bad. Eventually Tobi had come, after finally giving up on looking for Deidara.

"Hey Sakura." Deidara started, his voice slightly softer than usual. Sakura looked up at him, asking what he needed. "Not that I care or anything, but why were you about to kill yourself, yeah?" Sakura shrugged- if she started talking about it, she'd start remembering things, and then her emotions would overwhelm her, causing her to _cry_. She was _not_ willing to cry in front of Deidara or Tobi at the moment.

"I wasn't trying to kill myself." Sakura replied, and both knew it was complete bull. He had been watching her for a couple of moments. He saw the emotions flicker through her pained eyes. If he had actually cared, his heart would have clenched and he would have felt sorry for the girl- but he didn't care. His heart hadn't clenched. He refused to admit to having any feelings for anybody. He kept telling himself that he didn't, and continued trying to convince himself that he didn't need any.

He didn't have any feelings towards his family he had left back in his home country. He didn't have any towards Tobi, who would follow Deidara to the ends of the earth if need be, and he definitely didn't have any feelings toward the pink haired girl. Shinobi as strong as him couldn't survive if they had stupid emotions and bonds other than partnership distracting them all the time. He needed to be a strong shinobi, if he was going to survive independantly. He'd made it this far alone- unhappy, but _alive_.

He found himself wondering exactly what it would be like. If he just stopped being proud, stopped trying to be the perfect artist, the perfect ninja, and simply admit to himself that he had to feel. That he needed emotions, friendship, and maybe even love. He furrowed his eyebrows at the thought. Nobody could love him. Hell, his family didn't even love him. As for the Akatsuki- they weren't a family. No. The members in the organization were simply tools used to reach a goal. World domination. Was it even possible? Even with all the demons they had captured, he highly doubted it.

The rest of the day was spent travelling through the terrain, towards the Akatsuki's latest base. When the three finally reached it, Sakura was starting to have second thoughts about her decision to stick with Deidara and Tobi. "Are you coming in or what, yeah?" Deidara asked, waving a hand in front of Sakura's face. She had spaced out for a second, and he didn't feel like keeping the entrance open any longer than necessary.

"O-oh yeah. Sorry." Sakura mumbled, stepping in. Inside, it was dark- Sakura couldn't see a thing. Suddenly Deidara muttered a few words and the entire place was illuminated with light. She blinked a couple of times as her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness. When her vision returned to normal, she was surprised to see that the hideout looked like a normal styled home. Right now they were in a living room with a couch and a television set in the center. Off to the side was the kitchen and dining room, and to the other was a hallway probably leading to their personal rooms.

"Who do we have here?" Someone exclaimed. Sakura turned around to come face to face with none other than _Sasori_. Her eyes widened as she gasped- how was it possible? She had _killed_ him! She and Chiyo-baasama. She watched as his eyes widened in realisation- now he was going to kill her, probably as revenge for killing him in the first place. How had they been able to revive him in the first place?

"_You!_" Both shouted at each other. Deidara chuckled at the two, finding the whole situation quite funny. He received an intense glare from both currently unamused, and pissed off ninjas. "Is this some kind of _joke_?" Both exclaimed at the same time. Deidara started laughing hard, holding his stomach. Who knew this kunoichi was so much fun to anger? Not only that, but Sasori as well! Heh, two birds with one stone.

"Deidara-senpai, what's so funny?" Tobi asked, confused. Deidara could only shake his head as he continued laughing. Sakura glared at Sasori, who was glaring right back at her. "Has Sakura-chan and Sasori-kun met already?" Tobi asked, sounding somewhat excited. Sakura sure fit in quite nicely with everyone here in the Akatsuki. If they were all lucky, leader-sama would let her join!

"Yes. They've met, before. Now I'm going to contact Leader- Tobi, make sure they don't kill each other." Deidara exclaimed, laughing the entire time. Sakura backed up, ready to fight if needed. Had Chiyo-baasama's death been in vain? She didn't want to die by the hands of the undead man in front of her- wait, _man_? Her eyes widened- what had happened to his puppet body?

"Tobi...? Didn't he die?" Sakura asked. She could've sworn he had. She had seen the two swords piercing his body as the puppets of his parents held him still. Tobi nodded, saying that the Akatsuki had used a revival jutsu on him. 'Aw, shit.' Sakura thought- was there no end to these guys? She wondered whose body they used for the revival jutsu, feeling sorry for the poor soul.

"I was not expecting to meet you _again_." Sasori exclaimed, his voice now calm and as serious as ever. Sakura nodded. The two stood there, simply watching each other awkwardly. They both wondered if either would attack first, though they had no real reason or motivation. Sure, Sakura had killed Sasori, but he had been revived. He wasn't the type of guy to waste his time taking revenge on something that didn't matter to him, anymore. He wanted to know why she was there, though. Like Deidara, he was curious. "Why have you come to the Akatsuki?"

Sakura shifted uncomfortably under his hard gaze. "I'm willing to join." She muttered, and Sasori rose an eyebrow. This was the girl who had been so eager to kill him, as well as the other members in the Akatsuki. His curiousity getting the better of him, he asked what her reasons were. "I... Well... There's nothing for me in Konoha." Sakura replied. She didn't feel like explaining everything to him. She didn't want to relive the pain, the feeling of her heart breaking as she pictured each of her friends' lifeless faces in her mind.

"I see." Sasori replied, seemingly satisfied with her answer. He would just have to ask Deidara about what happened to the girl, later. He knew she was hiding the more important facts, and was obviously not willing to explain them to him any time soon. He watched as she turned away from him, obviously uncomfortable and nervous. She had changed quite a lot as the years had gone by.

For one, the small, young girl that had killed him years ago had now developed into a _woman_. And a very attractive one at that. He felt blood rush to his face, and he immediately felt ashamed. Damn his new body for making him feel such things! He missed his puppet body- it had been nearly perfect. He hadn't had the time or the supplies to create a new one, so for the moment he had to settle with an aging, fleshy, and not to mention _disgusting_ human body.

"Will you try to kill me?" Sakura asked, still unsure. She was willing to put up one last fight. For Chiyo-baasama, especially, after making the ultimate sacrifice for Gaara. She felt a pang in her chest again, and her eyes immediately started to water. She blinked them back, refusing to show weakness in front of Sasori. She would not cry. She wouldn't.

"No, I won't." Sasori drawled. Despite Sakura's efforts, he had noticed the tears threatening to escape. He watched in curiosity as she desperately tried blinking the tears back into her eyes. Emotions meant weakness- every skilled shinobi knew that. He wondered what she was thinking that was causing her emotions to overwhelm her like that. At least she was trying to _hide_ it.

"I see... Okay." She said, though not fully trusting. She walked to the couch and sat down, Tobi immediately plopping down beside her. She gave him a shaky smile, asking if the television worked. Tobi gladly explained to her how it worked, and although Sakura knew perfectly well how to use a television set, she let him ramble on, glad to have even the smallest distraction. "Thank you, Tobi. I really appreciate it." She exclaimed, after Tobi had finished.

"Tobi is happy to help!" He exclaimed. Sakura gave him a real smile- he reminded her so much of Naruto. So cheerful, so seemingly trusting, and always glad to help her when she needed it. She looked back to the now working television- how had they gotten it to work? It didn't matter, though. She watched without really taking in what was happening and simply started thinking about what her current situation was and the choices she was going to have to make.

For one, she knew that she was starting to get slightly attached to Tobi. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but she had to be cautious about it. She didn't know what lay under that mask of his, and for all she knew, he could have been acting just to gain her trust. She'd play along for a while- fake or not, it was nice having someone goofy around to lift her spirits.

Secondly, she didn't want to die anymore. She didn't know when she had finally decided that, or exactly why, but she knew that she just didn't. Her friends would want her to move on, right? So she'd try. She'd become even stronger for all of them, and create a new life for herself. She'd try joining the Akatsuki, one of the most powerful organizations in the world. She figured that since now that there wasn't a 'Konoha' for them to hurt, it didn't matter anymore wether she joined or not.

Her morals, her beliefs, her thoughts on 'right' and 'wrong'- everything had changed when her friends had died. She was going to start out as a new, clean slate. Instead of the people in Konoha influencing her, it would now be the Akatsuki- that is, if they even accepted her into the organization. And why wouldn't they? Hokage's ex-apprentice, ANBU level, medic-nin. She had been able to defeat one of their members, actually. And now that they knew she wanted to be on 'their side', why not take the chance?

* * *

"Sakura Haruno, eh?" Pein asked. He was quite surprised that the Leaf-nin would even consider joining the organization. Deidara nodded, and Pein paused for a moment before continuing. "Tell me more about her current... Situation." He wanted to know more. Why would the Hokage's precious apprentice leave Konoha to join the enemy? It seemed suspicious at first.

"I found her in the woods, a kunai pressed against her throat. She was about to kill herself. So far she has refused to tell me or Tobi the reason why, and has even denied it. She also seems to have obtained the Sharingan in one eye." Deidara replied. He didn't really know much about her, though it was expected with only such a short time spent together.

"Interesting. I will consider it. She may be able to help us greatly in the future. First, we must prove her loyalty." Pein stated. He would gladly accept the girl into the Akatsuki. Her talents and skills as both a shinobi and a medic were known everywhere, and he wouldn't want to pass up an opportunity to get her on their side. Deidara nodded, asking how they were supposed to do that.

"I will send you two on an asassination mission to kill the Mizukage's daughter." Pein exclaimed. He had recently struck a deal with the Mizukage, who hadn't kept his end of the bargain. It would be a way to punish the Mizukage, as well as prove Sakura to be loyal by killing an innocent girl for the Akatsuki. The corners of his mouth twitched upwards in a small smile. "I want this done as soon as possible. You will leave tomorrow and come back no less than a week."

"I will inform her right away." Deidara exclaimed, standing up. A mission with just the two of them alone? He wondered how that was going to turn out. Maybe if he was lucky, she'd be able to get some answers from her. He left the room and headed back to where he left Sasori, Tobi, and Sakura. To his surprise, he found Sakura and Tobi watching television quite peacefully. Sasori was in the kitchen, preparing a sandwich for himself and mumbling something along the lines of, 'My old body never had to eat.'

"Sakura." Deidara exclaimed. She looked away from the TV and at him with curious eyes. Had she already been accepted? She was feeling slightly more confident than she was earlier, after thinking of a couple of reasons as to why she should be allowed to join. The only real problem was to prove that she wasn't secretly feeding information to Konoha, but that could be easily taken care of. "Leader-sama needs you to prove your loyalty, yeah." Deidara stated. Sakura nodded- she figured that much out, already. "We've been assigned on a mission to asassinate the Mizukage's daughter. We're leaving tomorrow, yeah."

Sakura nodded again, she was surprised it had been so quick, though. She wondered why they wanted to kill the Mizukage's daughter, but decided not to question it. If she wanted to prove her loyalty, she had to do it no matter what the circumstances. Besides, it's not like she had never killed before- not that Sakura was proud of it or anything. Her first kill had shaken her up pretty badly, but after that she had learned to push back the guilt and horror after a while. It took some time getting used to, but she was a kunoichi. Not only did she have to be physically strong, but emotionally as well.

"Sasori, yeah, pass me an apple, will ya?" Deidara asked. Sasori looked up from his sandwich-making and gave Deidara a glare. "Fine, fine, I'll get it myself!" Deidara replied, exasperatedly. He headed into the kitchen to grab an apple, grumbling as he did so. Sakura giggled as the small scene was played out in front of her. If things were going to be this amusing, she really wouldn't mind living here. Deidara gave her a glare and she immediately focused her attention back towards the TV, a smile now plastered on her face.

She looked really pretty when she smiled, Deidara noticed. He thought that she should be smiling more often, rather than looking as though she would burst into tears any moment- but he wasn't going to admit any of that out loud. He didn't want her head to get big or anything- she was already a big enough pain in the ass as it is... Okay, so he was exaggerating. The girl hadn't done anything that irritated him yet, except attack him on sight, which wasn't that unexpected. Plus, he'd been the jerk, lately, snapping back at her all the time.

Tobi seemed to have taken a liking to her, already. Of course, he took a liking to _everyone_, but that wasn't surprising to Deidara in the slightest. Sasori didn't seem very affected that she was here, even though the girl had killed him once before. He wondered if it was just his human body making him soft- though he had to admit, Sasori was much more pleasant to be around now that he was fully human. He wondered what the other Akatsuki would think of her. There was Konan, Kakuzu, Hidan, Itachi, Zetsu, and even Pein-sama whom she hadn't met yet. Deidara personally didn't have a problem with her. She was entertaining to tease and would be quite useful to him.

Sakura and Tobi suddenly burst out laughing, causing Deidara to jump slightly. He glanced at what was playing on the television and immediately rolled his eyes when he recognized it. _Cartoons_. Tobi loved watching them, and it irritated him to no end at how he could stand that shit. The graphics were horrible and could never pass off as true art. The humour in it never made sense, either, and was probably aimed for those with your, less mature minds.

Suddenly Sakura clutched her stomach, and she started blushing. Deidara rose an eyebrow as Tobi started laughing at her expression, and then realized that her stomach must have grumbled loudly. He hadn't heard from where he was standing, but Tobi apparently had been able to. He watched as she stood up to head towards him and Sasori in the kitchen.

"Uhm... Can I grab something to eat?" She asked, her blush still visible on her face. Sasori, with a mouthful of his sandwich merely grunted, pointing at the fridge. Sakura bit back her laugh and opened the fridge up, taking out an apple. He watched as she sent a small amount of chakra through it- probably out of habit- before she took a bite out of it. After chewing quickly, she immediately swallowed, taking another bite as she did so.

In three minutes flat, she had already finished the apple aside from the core. She threw it in the garbage bin and quickly rinsed her hands before she headed back to the couch where Tobi sat, still watching cartoons. Deidara looked at his own, only half-eaten apple. That girl sure was a fast-eater. He took another bite of his apple, savouring the taste. Things were going to get really interesting, now that Sakura had joined the Akatsuki.

After a couple of hours of simply lounging about and relaxing in the living room, the entrance was suddenly opened, and both Kisame and Itachi stepped forth. Their cloaks were torn in some edges, and Kisame had a wide grin on his face- they had come back from a very fun, entertaining mission. It was supposed to be simple- head towards Amegakure and retrieve some scrolls, but they had been recognized and were immediately attacked. Needless to say, they had won.

When the bright pink hair caught Itachi's attention, he rose an eyebrow. He had only seen one girl with a hair colour as exotic as that, and her name was Sakura Haruno from Leaf. What would someone from Leaf be doing in the Akatsuki's base? Well, besides _him_ of course. Kisame didn't give it much thought. He hadn't recogized her as Sakura Haruno, and assumed that it was probably some whore Deidara decided to bring home.

When Sakura turned around to see who had entered, she immediately froze. What was going to happen now? She hadn't thought about what she'd do if she came face to face with the other Akatsuki. She knew it was going to happen at one point, but she didn't think it would have been so soon. "Cute whore you've got here, Deidara, mind if I borrow her for a couple of seconds?" Kisame asked, giving him a toothy grin. Sakura gritted her teeth, and at the moment Itachi was completely forgotten.

"I'm not some _whore_, fish-face. I'm joining Akatsuki." She muttered- she couldn't stand being called a whore. Kisame's grin widened even more at her answer. Nobody ever talked back to him and lived to tell about it. Well, other than the Akatsuki. He found that it was amusing, really. He chuckled, asking what her name was and why she even wanted to join. Akatsuki wasn't a club just _anybody_ could join. The members had to be strong, powerful. They had to be capable of handling anything.

"Sakura Haruno, and uh... Because there's nothing for me in Konoha." Sakura replied, though hesitant on the last part. She wasn't exactly sure how to word it and decided to give Kisame the same answer she had given Sasori. She doubted he would press in on the subject, anyways. She knew he wasn't from Konoha, so it really wasn't any of his business to know, anyways.

Kisame's eyes widened. Sakura Haruno? He hadn't recognized the girl- the last time he'd seen her was when she was smaller, younger. His grin didn't fade as he noticed how much the girl had grown. He figured it wouldn't be too bad having a girl around the Akatsuki other than Konan. He could've sworn that the blue-haired origami specialist was screwing Leader-sama behind their backs- not that he'd actually try asking, of course.

Although Kisame knew he didn't_ need_ to know, he couldn't help but wonder shy this girl, of all people, wished to join Akatsuki? She had heard about her many times- great medic, Hokage's apprentice. In all, she was a successful ninja, loyal to Konoha. It sounded as if she were happy in her village, so why leave now? She had said that there was nothing for her in Konoha, though, and Kisame wondered what it was. It had to be big. It must have been something huge that happened in Konoha to make the little spitfire leave and betray them to join the Akatsuki.

"Haruno. Why do you have the Sharingan?" Itachi asked, coolly. He knew she didn't have one before- somebody must have_ given_ it to her. Perhaps it was his brother- no. He'd never give up his Sharingan. He needed it to beat Itachi. Itachi watched as Sakura bit her lip, trying to think of a suitable answer. He couldn't think of anybody else with the Sharing- How could have forgotten? The _copy-nin_. Hatake Kakashi. But why would he give it to _her_ of all people?

"I... I... I took it from Kakashi." Sakura replied. She was a terrible liar, but this wasn't a complete fib. She did, in fact, take the Sharingan from Kakashi, but only because it was his deathwish. The thought of Kakashi made Sakura's eyes water slightly- she still missed them greatly. She hadn't completely moved on, and she was afraid that she never would. Her thoughts were always everywhere lately, conflicting with one another. She figured she'd just have to go along with everything until she could think clearly again.

Itachi nodded, though not fully believing her. He'd get his answers eventually. He always did. Sakura watched as he simply walked away, and she let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. Was she really that nervous? She looked up at Kisame, who was still grinning. His teeth were pointy and sharp, and Sakura shuddered, imagining what it would be like had he chomped an arm off of her body.

"Are you scared, kunoichi?" Kisame asked, and he felt like chuckling when the girl narrowed her eyes in genuine anger. Her pride wouldn't let her admit she was scared. Sakura growled a stubborn no- she really wasn't scared. She may not want to die, but she wasn't scared of death. Intimidated, maybe, but not _scared_. She glared up at him, defiance clearly etched into her expression.

Was she brave? Or was she stupid? Kisame wondered. Probably both, but that didn't matter. She was amusing, and he had a feeling the girl would make an interesting addition to the Akatsuki. "You should be." He replied, and Sakura _scoffed_. Kisame rose an eyebrow- had she really...? He grinned again- he decided he liked her already. He started chuckling as he headed towards his room. After sniffing himself slightly, he decided that he needed to shower badly.

Deidara stood there gaping. He couldn't believe it- the girl had already received Kisame's approval without even knowing it. This day was turning out so... So unexpected. "Sakura-chan, why did you take the Sharingan? You're not an Uchiha, so how would you learn to use it?" Tobi asked, curious. Sakura bit her lip again, looking off to the side. She decided to shrug, saying that she simply wanted to take it and that she already had a basic idea of how it worked. She had, after all, been Kakashi's student and teammate. She'd seen him use it countless times, and had healed it, too.

"I see, but could you excuse me, Sakura-chan? Tobi really needs to go to the washroom!" Tobi exclaimed, standing up and rushing down the hallway. Sakura nodded, keeping her eyes glued on the television. She was already getting used to the place- it wasn't too bad. The only problem was warming up to the other Akatsuki. Her loyalty would be proven soon enough, so she didn't bother worrying about that issue, much.

She had learned about the other members of the Akatsuki in the past. They were probably in every bingo book written. She couldn't remember all their names, but she knew they were all very dangerous. They had been on a down-low before and during the huge battle between Sound and Leaf. In fact, the war was pretty down-low as well. No other villages besides Sound, Suna, and Konoha knew what was going on.

It was no surprise that the other Akatsuki haven't figured out what had happened and were wondering why she was even there. She had seen the confusion and curiosity in both Itachi and Kisame's eyes. She had a rough idea about what their thoughts probably were at the time. Deidara, deciding he wanted to watch TV too, sat down where Tobi had, beside Sakura.

"What are you watching, yeah?"

* * *

Tobi looked back to see if either Deidara or Sakura was watching him and instead of heading into the washroom, he quietly slipped into the room where Pein currently was. The overly cheerful and hyperactive Tobi that had existed just a couple of moments before had disappeared in just a second. In his place, was Madara Uchiha, leader and founder of the Akatsuki.

"It's almost time." Madara exclaimed behind his spiraled mask. He grinned to himself, knowing fully well that Pein couldn't see. His plan had gotten a lot easier. He had known about the war between Sound and Konoha, and he had known about the outcome. The other members had absolutely no clue, and it was going to stay like that for a while longer.

When the time came, everybody would know what to do. Madara smirked to himself- the whole world would soon be his. After all these years of careful and detailed planning, it was only starting to unfold! He couldn't let it in on the other members, though. He couldn't depend on them fully- they might, and most likely would, screw _everything_ up. They had already lost their chance in getting Kyuubi.

For the moment being, he would have to act as the fun-loving idiot, Tobi. But that wasn't too hard. He'd been doing it for years, now. Besides, after his plan was finished, he wouldn't need to pretend anymore. It was only a matter of time before _it_ happened. "How much longer will the preparations take?" Madara asked, his voice low.

"Two months is the longest, Madara-sama." Pein replied. Madara-sama. The true leader and founder of the Akatsuki. He wouldn't be able to stand a chance if he were to fight against this powerful man. None of the other Akatsuki could, not even Itachi, one of the strongest members. He fought the urge to smirk- he knew about Madara's plan. Not only was he a madman, but he was also _genius_.

* * *

Deidara glanced at Sakura through the corner of his eye. The pink haired girl kept snoozing off, and then jerking back up as if she was trying to fight her urge to sleep. Needless to say, it was quite amusing. He glanced back at the television for a moment- nothing interesting. Suddenly a small snort-like sound was heard, and he immediately turned to see Kisame, snickering at the sight of the exhausted Sakura.

Kisame watched as she continued to drift off, and then force herself awake. He was quite surprised the girl wasn't on alert, and that she trusted everybody enough to not harm her. Well, it was either that, or she was incredibly stupid, but from what he could tell, it was most likely the first. She seemed to be exhausted, though she was trying to fight the rest she obviously needed. He felt like scoffing- some medic.

Sakura hadn't heard Kisame snort, and she eventually gave in to the urge and closed her eyes. After a couple of seconds, her breathing evened out, and she was completely relaxed, her head resting on her chest. "I think somebody needs some sleep." Kisame exclaimed, walking over to both Deidara and Sakura. "Who's room is she staying in?" He asked, about to pick her up and bring her to his. Contrary to popular belief, Kisame was not completely heartless. Besides, it would've been funny as hell seeing her scream when she woke up next to him the next morning.

"Mine." Deidara immediately replied, and Kisame rose a brow. That was quicker than expected. Before he could make a smart comment about it, Deidara opened his mouth, saying, "You'd probably try to rape her or something." He smirked at Kisame's disgusted expression. Deidara was only joking around- sometimes it was funny pissing Kisame off. He made sure not to do it too often, though. He still had Samehada, after all.

"I'm not _that_ evil, Deidara." Kisame replied, waving him off as he turned to head back to his room. "Heh, do whatever you want with her." He muttered before walking away. Deidara scoffed, it's not like he would try anything perverted or anything. He just wasn't _that_ type of guy. Joking around, that was fine. Sexual harassment? He'd rather not. Not unless it was necessary in a mission, anyways. He sighed as he got off the couch and bent down to lift Sakura up.

He brought her into his room, careful not to wake her up. "You better be thankful when you wake up, yeah." He muttered, knowing she couldn't hear him say it. He carefully laid her on one side of the bed, and placed her stuff on the ground beside it. He headed over to the washroom to get himself ready to sleep, and then slid into the sheets beside her.

He stared blankly at the ceiling, even though the room was pretty dark and he couldn't really _see_ it. He wondered what it was going to be like now that Sakura had joined the Akatsuki. Suddenly she shifted towards him, snuggling into his warmth. Deidara smirked at the thought of him telling her that she had _willingly_ snuggled up against him last night. It was fun teasing the poor girl.

He heard her whimper slightly and he felt a slight pang in his chest. She was having another nightmare. She looked so vulnerable, so helpless. Something inside of him ached. On instinct, he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her to him slightly. She snuggled into him some more and he immediately regretted placing the arm around her. He started to wonder exactly what he was getting himself into.

He had always denied intimate gestures such as this, but as he watched Sakura's face contort in pain, he felt somewhat _needed_. When she whimpered and pressed herself closer to him, it seemed as if she needed his comfort to make her feel better. Never in his life had he ever felt needed in _that_ way. It gave him a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach, that he wouldn't really describe as 'unpleasant'.

When he really thought about it, he couldn't deny the fact that he liked their current position. He had forgotten what it was like to hold someone so intimately. He hadn't felt this type of human contact in years, and now, as he was holding Sakura, he realized he'd missed it. The skin against skin. He had been craving it without even knowing, and had been denying the fact for quite some time.

Deidara wanted to let out an exasperated groan. He wasn't supposed to be like this, like an emotional twit. Ninjas did not have any emotion. He tightened his hold slightly on Sakura subconsciously- the girl was making him soft, and from the strange feeling in his gut, he wasn't sure if it was either a good or bad thing. A part of him told him that he couldn't get attached to her, that he needed to isolate himself and make sure he didn't touch her anymore.

Another part told him that this was what he _needed_. After years of being alone, of trying to deny his emotions and everything that made him _human_, this girl was the perfect opportunity to bring it back and make everything right. That part of him told him that if he did everything correctly, he could get her to become attached to him as well. Then he would be able to hold her all the time. It wasn't that bad of an idea.

He inwardly sighed to himself. Deidara knew that he was emotionally unstable. The only time he had ever experienced love and affection was when he was still a child with his parents. Once he had grown up and joined the Akatsuki, all of that was 'forgotten'. As a ninja, he was taught that affection and overwhelming emotions were deadly and would get you killed in an instant. After being deprived of it for so long, he could say he was pretty emotionally fucked up.

Being in the Akatsuki could do that. He knew he was deprived of love, of care and feeling, and had tried to convince himself he never needed it. Even in his home country, he had always been rejected. Alone to fend for himself. All by himself. He always had been, hadn't he? And now, with a girl just comfortably lying there in his arms, without a care in the world- he _liked_ it. It was something he had never been able to experience when he was younger, and he knew he needed it, even if it was for only a little bit.

He wouldn't go as far as to rape her- oh no. He couldn't bring himself to do _that_ to a girl. Killing and blowing things up was what he was fine with. It was, after all, what his hands were made for. He knew his sense of right and wrong was fucked up, but he couldn't bring himself to actually _touch_ a girl that way. Besides, he had been 'convinced' that he didn't need it in the first place. The word 'innocent' popped into his head, but that wasn't the best word to describe him. He was far from it, in fact.

Deidara didn't have any problems with emotions itself, but rather expressing them- well, certain ones. Anger, impatience- emotions like those were easy, and he was used to them. When it came to anything even remotely related to love, he was rendered completely hopeless. Everything was so complicated, and he didn't have any experience whatsoever in that area.

Deidara buried his face in her hair, inhaling her scent. Holding Sakura like this... It soothed him. It calmed him down. Upon realizing the fact, he decided that he wanted it. He wanted to be able to hold someone, to feel someone else's skin against his, to be able to share their warmth. He wanted to _touch_. He wanted to _feel_. And although it was dangerous, and risky, and to many others- extremely stupid, he was willing to take the chances.

He was going to make sure Sakura was attached to him. He was going to make sure that he would be able to hold her at night, and feel her skin, feel her warmth. He wasn't going to share, either. She was going to be all _his_. He couldn't risk letting her get attached with anybody else. If he lost her... If he lost the touch, the feeling- _no_. He wouldn't let it happen. He couldn't. Now that it was so close, he couldn't lose it.

But the others couldn't know about his plan. He would have to hide it from Tobi, and Leader-sama. He couldn't let Itachi or Kisame or anybody else know, either. He couldn't be seen as _soft_. Soft was weak, and Akatsuki couldn't be weak. Of course not! He had to be strong to survive. He furrowed his eyebrows in thought and confusion. Did it mean this girl made him weak?

He mentally shook his head. It was something all humans needed, so it couldn't have meant he was weak. If he was really strong, he'd be able to persevere. Deidara felt like scoffing at himself- he was pathetic for depending on a girl like this. But he couldn't help it. All humans needed contact. All humans had emotion, needs- touch was definitely one of those needs. And to Deidara, that need hadn't been met properly- not until _now_.

He hated to admit it, but now he had fully convinced himself he needed the girl, and the only way he was going to be able to keep her was if she needed him, too. He felt like cursing- it was going to be hard. She was obviously upset about something, but he still didn't know what. Not only that, but he was already emotionally and socially challenged. He didn't know how to deal with females.

But he had to try. He didn't want to lose the feeling just yet.

* * *

Sakura woke up with a long yawn- hadn't she been watching television? She opened her eyes slightly and was surprised to find that she was pressed up to Deidara, whose arm was wrapped around her waist. "Deidara?" She asked, and was only greeted with a grunt as he tightened his hold and buried his head even more into her hair.

Sakura blushed lightly- she wasn't used to this kind of contact with guys. Sakura tried moving his arm off, but his hold was strong. Sakura figured he must still be asleep- he couldn't have actually been willing to hold her that close. It was Deidara, after all. An Akatsuki- she couldn't really say anything. It seemed too hypocritical. After all, she was almost part of the organization as well.

She let out a sigh. She was still upset about all her friends' deaths, but Deidara and the others... She wasn't really alone anymore, right? Sakura didn't want to get her hopes up too high, or become too attached to them, but she knew that she needed at least _one_ person to become familiar with. She was never the fully independant type. She sighed, wondering who would be most willing to play the part of her 'friend'.

Deidara, maybe? He had been nice enough to carry her to his room, and she wasn't actually violated in any way- but then again, he was probably ordered to do so and after he had fallen asleep, he must have unconsciously started hugging her. There was always Tobi, too. Yeah. He was so child-like, and very sweet and not really that intimidating, especially since she knew she was on his side.

"Deidara? Are you awake?" She asked, but his even breathing was the reply. She was starting to get annoyed, now. That was a good sign, she figured- she was actually starting to feel more like herself, now. "Get off me." She murmured, carefully prying his arm off of her waist. She eventually succeeded, much to Deidara's dismay. He hadn't _actually_ been sleeping.

She got up, and immediately felt chilly. It had been quite warm being snuggled up to Deidara like that, but she wasn't really comfortable being that close with someone she was supposed to loathe only weeks before. She sighed, looking around for her belongings. They were supposed to head on a mission today to kill the Mizukage's daughter. It was an important mission for her, one that would determine whether or not she was worthy of becoming an Akatsuki member.

She found it by the bedside and looked through it, mentally thanking Deidara for not touching anything. She wondered what she was going to need- the trip to the Mizukage was probably going to be a couple of days at the most. "What do you think you're doing?" Deidara exclaimed, making Sakura jump slightly. She clutched her chest- she hadn't heard him wake up.

"I was just packing." Sakura replied, digging through her bag. She felt the tips of the two pictures, but decided she shouldn't take it out just yet. Deidara was there, and she didn't want to have to deal with all his questions. It's not like he cared, anyways- none of them did, Sakura thought, with some disappointment. Was she ever going to become close with someone ever again?

She missed Tsunade and Shizune back in Konoha, but she'd never be able to face them again. She couldn't. After all, out of everybody, only she had survived. Was it a sign of strength? Not to Sakura. It was one of the ultimate signs of weakness. She wasn't able to protect her friends, her loved ones. Instead, it was a sign that she had to _be_ protected. She couldn't face Tsunade knowing that.

"Well hurry it up, we're leaving right after we eat." Deidara exclaimed, getting up and heading to the bathroom to shower. Sakura nodded her head- she didn't have any more things to pack so she decided to go to the kitchen and eat instead of sitting on the bed waiting for Deidara to finish his shower. She tied up her hair, noting the fact that it was all tangly and wiry after travelling so much yesterday. She definitely needed a shower.

"Sakura-chan!" Tobi exclaimed, bounding up to her as she entered the kitchen. "What would you like to eat for breakfast?" He asked, and Sakura shook her head, saying that he didn't need to trouble himself with it and that she'd be able to make it herself. "Tobi doesn't mind cooking for Sakura-chan!" He replied, and Sakura giggled, saying that she was just going to go make a sandwich again. "Alrighty, then! Tobi will make a yummy sandiwch for Sakura-chan."

"Thanks Tobi." Sakura replied, a grin on her face. She had to admit, it was a nice way to start the morning. She sat down on the dining table, waiting for her sandwich to be made. She was still surprised that the Akatsuki base was so... _homey_. A television, a kitchen, their own rooms- who would have guessed? She had always pictured it to be like that one time, during the fight with Sasori. Where everywhere she looked was just stone and earth. Something like that seemed more fitting for a widely known gang of criminals, instead of the one she was currently in.

A couple of minutes passed by, and Sakura could hear Tobi humming as he continued to make his sandwich. Suddenly a grumble was heard and a white haired man came in and sat down beside her. "Tobi, get me some food!" He ordered. He hadn't acknowledged me yet, but from his white hair and violet eyes, I assumed this man must be Hidan. I've heard he was very religious.

"Okay!" Tobi exclaimed from the kitchen, as happy and cheerful as ever. Sakura watched quietly as a couple more Akatsuki came in and sat around the table. Kisame, Itachi, and Sasori. She felt uncomfortable sitting there with them, and shrank back in her chair, trying not to bring attention to herself. She could feel their eyes boring holes at her, and she wanted to scream at them to stop.

"Who the fuck are you?" Hidan asked, looking at Sakura. Sakura glared at him, but told him her name, anyways. "What are you here, for?" He asked, but just as Sakura opened her mouth to reply, he continued on, "Has Deidara finally decide to bring back a whore? I don't understand you idiots and your perverted urges. Jashin-sama will damn you all to hell, one day."

Sakura clenched her fist- why did everybody assume she was a whore? "No, I'm not Deidara's whore. I'm here to join the Akatsuki." Sakura muttered. She was tempted to add 'dumbass' but decided that it probably wasn't the best idea if she wanted to join the Akatsuki without any problems. Hidan stared at her and suddenly burst out laughing. "What's so funny?" Sakura asked, glaring at him.

"_You_? A scrawny, weak-looking, pink-haired girl like _you_ joining Akatsuki? That's fucking hilarious." Hidan exclaimed, laughing still. A small cough was heard, and Sakura looked over at the source of the noise. To her surprise, it was Kisame, and he was... He was trying not to _laugh_. 'Why didn't any of them take her seriously?' She thought crossly to herself as she crossed my arms over her chest and sat there, glaring at the two. This only caused Hidan to laugh harder, and Sakura growled in anger.

"I'm not weak." Sakura replied, and Hidan stopped laughing long enough to tell her to prove it. An idea formed in her head, and she fought the urge to smirk. "Alright, I will." Sakura muttered darkly. She channelled some chakra into her hand, but suddenly something grabbed her arm. Sakura turned around to find Deidara, tsking at her. Sakura glared at him for interrupting her demonstration.

"There's not need for _that_, yeah." Deidara exclaimed, and Sakura huffed. "He can't die, anyways." He continued, and Sakura's eyes widened. She wouldn't be surprised if it was actually true from all the stories she'd heard about him. That was pretty insane. She looked at Hidan as if he had grown two heads, and by instinct she inched slightly away from him. Hidan stopped laughing to look at her, obviously irritated at her reaction. "I guess I might as well have let you hit him, yeah." Deidara thought aloud.

"Yeah, you should have." Sakura mumbled, but she willed the chakra in her hand to disperse. Deidara chuckled, the girl was pretty funny. Hidan didn't seem to amused by it, and was about to open his mouth to say something, when a sandwich came flying over his and hit Deidara smack in the face. Sakura covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing when Deidara turned angrily at the direction where the sandwich came from.

"Tobi..." Deidara growled, and Tobi, who had accidentally tripped and was currently sprawled on the ground, was now scrambling to get up. "I'm going to _kill_ you, yeah!"

* * *

End of chapter! I hope you enjoyed it.

Please review! It's honestly depressing looking at my stats. Reviews: 2 Hits: 200. Okay, so I'm exaggerating it slightly, but it's not that far off. Eheheh, people obviously don't like the story. Comment on how I can do better, please?


	4. Competition

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the other characters and such.

Ack. I looked back and realized I did a crappy job of looking over the past chapters before posting them up. I hope you guys could understand them, anyways. Oh, and sorry for not updating fast enough. Not enough drive to write and not enough ideas. Also, there's school! Eheh.

* * *

"Are we almost there?" Sakura asked, as she and Deidara hopped from branch to branch. They had left the base a couple of days ago, and were supposed to be at their destination any time, now. Deidara nodded his head, muttering a quick 'yeah' as they continued their journey. Sakura sighed in exasperation- she was getting bored and she just wanted to get the mission done and over with.

"You said that half an hour ago when I asked." Sakura muttered under her breath. Deidara heard her and rolled his eyes, deciding to simply ignore her. She was being slightly annoying, but he understood why. The trip there was taking longer than expected. "Hey, is that the place?" Sakura asked, sounding more eager. Deidara looked up to where she was directing at and nodded-_ finally_!

The two henged, changing their appearances to look like the mere villagers that inhabited the place. They passed the guards easily, saying that they were nothing more than newly weds looking for a place to settle down. Once they had gotten to a secluded area, the two dispersed the henges. "Do you know where the target is?" Sakura asked.

"Of course I do, yeah." He replied, taking out a large, but extremely old-looking map of the village. Sakura mentally sweatdropped- the village must have changed a lot by now. The map looked as if it were written at least twenty years ago, for goodness sake! "I'm pretty sure _this_ is the target's house." He said, pointing to an area on the map. He took out another old-looking paper, except this time it was a blueprint with a messily written label that said 'Mizukage's House'.

She studied it carefully, taking note of which room Deidara had pointed to. It would be somewhat hard trying to gain access into such a heavily secured building. It was extremely large as well, and there was a chance they could get lost in its many hallways- especially if the building had changed since then. "We'll enter through here." Deidara muttered, pointing at a spot where a window was supposed to be.

He explained their movements, how they were going to get into the target's bedroom and what they would do once they got there, and Sakura memorized everything he told her. It was a fairly simple sounding mission. All they had to do was get in, asassinate the target, and get out. It was nothing Sakura couldn't handle, she figured. Once everything was clear, they headed out.

* * *

"Who's there?"

Sakura silently stepped behind the guard, knocking him out with a quick hit on his pressure point. Sakura carefully lowered him to the ground, making sure there was as little noise and shuffling as possible. She could have killed him easily, but as a medic-nin, she would have rather let him live instead. She had seen families after families mourn over their lost ones. Each time she had to tell the victim's family the bad news, it kept getting harder to watch as they almost immediately burst into tears and collapsed. Some simply stood there in shock, unable to believe what was told to them.

She quietly, and as gracefully as she could, moved down the hall towards their target's bedroom. She sighed mentally- the Mizukage's daughter was probably an innocent person. She probably had nothing to do with anything except for the fact she was the daughter of one of the most powerful men on Earth. She wondered where Deidara was- they were supposed to meet up anytime now to finish the job, once and for all.

She soon found herself standing before the target's door- she could hear her even breathing and her even pulse. Luckily the girl was asleep. She wouldn't have to die struggling- instead, she'd be dying in her sleep. It was something almost unheard of for shinobi, who usually died in action before the age forty.

She quietly crept into the dark room. There were no lights on, but with her training, she was able to hear exactly where the girl lay. She slowly made her way towards the target's direction, cautious as to not hit or knock anything over. One wrong move and the girl could wake- of course, it wouldn't really matter. She would have to die either way, it's just that the guards would probably come rushing over and make it hard for her and Deidara to escape.

With a silent apology, Sakura placed her hand on the girl's neck. She used her chakra to travel into her body and slice right through, killing the girl instantly. She sighed inwardly- her mission was completed. She truly felt sorry for the girl she had just killed- she barely had any time to live. Suddenly she heard a few quiet foodsteps heading towards her direction.

She immediately froze- the room was still dark, and if anybody looked inside, they wouldn't be able to see her unless they had some kind of bloodline limit, of course. The foosteps became louder as they neared, and she silently begged that it was Deidara walking towards the room. She didn't want to get caught, not now! Suddenly the footsteps stopped, and a small creak of the door being closed was heard. Sakura knew the person was standing at the doorway and that she was basically trapped.

'Shit, shit, shit,' Sakura mentally cursed to herself. 'Don't turn on the lights, don't turn on the lights, don't turn on-' The flick of a switch was heard and the room was illuminated as the electricity came rushing into the lightbulb. Sakura's eyes immediately adjusted to the sudden brightness, thanks to her medical skills, and she immediately lunged at intruder, only to stop and realize that the intruder was merely Deidara, after all.

"Don't surprise me like that!" Sakura hissed quietly, folding her arms angrily. Deidara merely shrugged, then looked over at the corpse and nodded his head in approval. "And what do you think you're doing, turning the lights on like this? What if somebody heard you coming here and decides to check it out?" Sakura whispered, her tone harsh.

"Calm down, yeah! I didn't mean to surprise you like that! What kind of a ninja lets her guard down like that, anyways?!" Deidara hissed back, obviously irritated at the 'greeting' she had given him. The stupid girl was acting like such a brat! Who did she think she was, talking to him like that? He watched as she rolled her eyes at him and turn around to see her work. Deidara clenched his fists in fury. "Did you just roll your-"

"Oh god."

Sakura took a step back in complete horror.

Deidara gave her a curious look as to why she was acting like this.

The girl she had killed looked like another replica of _Ino_. Her gorgeous blonde hair, splayed around her face. And her beautiful blue eyes- _oh_, her _eyes_! They were the exact same shade as Ino's. Sakura covered her mouth as the tears clouded her vision. She could still see the girl's eyes. They were glazed over, completely lifeless. Sakura stifled back a sob.

"Sakura?" Deidara asked in concern, but was ignored. Sakura couldn't hear or feel or think of anything besides Ino. She could picture her best friend clearly in her mind. Flashes of memories shone before her- the special ribbon,the academy, the chuunin exams, becoming friends again, and then that _day_. The war with Sound- her piercing scream and her fallen body, covered in fresh and dried blood.

"I killed her." Sakura whispered in disbelief. She could barely believe it as she walked closer to the body. "I killed _Ino_." She stated, reaching out her shaking hand to brush some stray strands of the hair away. "I... I _killed_ her." She stated again, her arm falling loosely at her side. Knees started shaking as she grabbed a fistful of her hair. "It's all my fault." She whimpered, this time collapsing on the floor.

Deidara was immediately at her side. "Sakura, are you okay?" He asked, gathering the broken girl in his arms. She simply shook her head, unable to say anything. Deidara, unsure of what to do decided to wrap his arms around the girl in a consoling hug. He didn't have much experience with comforting others- he never really had to.

Who was this Ino person, anyways? He furrowed his eyebrows in concentration. They had looked up some information on the jinchuuriki's teammates and friends a couple of weeks ago- if only he could remember! Ino... Nara? Akimichi? No... It started with a 'Y'... Yamanaka? That was it! Blonde hair, blue eyes- the girl with that strange mind switching technique! Deidara remembered her, now. Kisame had stated that she looked a great deal like him, that they could pass off as siblings. He rolled his eyes at the thought. He was _much_ better looking than the girl!

He shook his head. Now was not the time to be thinking of insignificant things such as appearance.

Now that he thought of it, though, the girl Ino held a great resemblance to their target. The same eyes, hair- and even their face shape looked similar! He looked down at the girl cradled in his arms and came to the conclusion that Sakura and Ino must have been quite close. He was still slightly confused- why would she break like this? She may look like her friend, but if she was still in Konoha then Sakura would have no problem with-

That was _it!_ Ino must have left, or died or _something_ like that! If Sakura knew that the blonde chick had been safe in Konoha, she wouldn't have reacted like this. Even if she had abandoned Konoha on her free will and missed her this much, she still wouldn't have cracked. Not like this, anyways. Deidara was now more curious than ever about what happened to Sakura.

"_Tenshi_, it's okay." He murmured into her ear. He didn't know what else to say, so he decided to whispering little nothings into her ear. "Everything's going to be alright, yeah." He continued on, and Sakura shook her head. Things were never going to be alright! Not after the war, not after they all left her. Sakura covered her mouth as she let out a sob. "Sakura, d-"

"Who's there?"

Deidara froze, his hold on Sakura tightening. "Reveal yourself now, intruder!" The voice demanded, and a couple of footsteps were heard. From the sound of it, there were at least six people a couple of hallways away from the room they currently resided in. The voices were faint, and Deidara figured they still had quite a bit of time before they were found. "You're surrounded! Reveal yourself now if you know what's good for you!"

Deidara rolled his eyes- he wasn't planning on dying today. "Sakura," He whispered into her ear. "We have to leave, now! Get up." He ordered softly, letting go of her to stand up himself. When Sakura simply sat there, he became slightly irritated. What was her problem? The guards were here, and they had them surrounded! Did she really want to put up with them and waste the extra energy that could be used for getting back to the base faster? He hated it here in this crappy village!

"You go." Sakura murmured, her voice no louder than a whisper. Deidara rose an eyebrow. Was she crazy? "You go," She repeated again, "And just let them kill me." Sakura replied, her voice cracking as she said the words. She had just committed a horrible deed, something completely unforgivable. She deserved to die. She deserved to die the most painful of deaths! Besides, what would Deidara care if he left her? She was probably only a burden to him, and in the end it would probably be her fault he'd be killed! He should just leave her, like all the others d-

"No."

Sakura's eyes widened. What did he say? "B-but-"

"I said _no_, Sakura. You're coming with me." Deidara exclaimed with finality. He refused to let her get killed so easily. Sakura looked up at him with a confused expression, and Deidara simply rolled his eyes again. "Look, we don't have much time. _Get up_." Deidara ordered, but Sakura stubbornly stayed down, causing Deidara to sigh in exasperation. This girl was being impossible!

The guards were coming, now. Deidara could hear their footsteps coming closer. He sighed, and bent down on a knee in front of Sakura. She looked down, but Deidara tilted her head up to look at him. She had a defiant expression on her face, but her eyes told a different story. It was the same look as when he found her sitting underneath the tree with the kunai held right against her neck. He gritted his teeth. She should never have to be this way.

If she wasn't going to come willingly, then he'd just have to force her. If only he could knock her out without injuring her too badly or at all. He could always hit a pressure point- but she was a medic-nin and a capable kunoichi. He'd need a distraction, but _what_? He pursed his lips for a moment and an idea struck him! He hid his smirk as he looked Sakura in the eye, watching as confusion flitted across her features before he dipped his head and captured her lips in a deep kiss.

Sakura's eyes widened even more, but before a single thought was able to run through her mind, she felt her pressure point being hit and all consciousness suddenly escaped her. Deidara watched her eyes close, very pleased with his work. He took out some clay and created an enlarged bird before setting Sakura upon it. He sat up behind her and took out another one of his sculptures, detonating it as soon as it touched the wall. The window hadn't been large enough for them to fit through, so he figured he had to make his own.

"Alert the Mizukage immediately!" The main guard yelled as soon as he and his troops ran to the room, only to see a bird flying away in the far distance. He felt like groaning. It was a completely ordinary sight, and that's what bothered him. The guards searched the area of the explosion, desperately trying to find any evidence of the murderer. How could they have escaped so fast? And who could the murderer possibly be? "The Mizukage is not going to like this." A guard muttered to himself as he finished checking the girl's pulse.

* * *

"What... What happened?" Sakura asked, groggily. She opened her eyes, and tried to lift herself up, only to fall back down because of her terrible headache. She could barely think clearly with her head in such pain! She immediately sent up some chakra to relieve the pain and calm herself down. Deidara sure had some explaini- _Deidara_!

Everything suddenly came back to her. The mission, the Ino look-a-like, her deathwish, and his _kiss_. Oh god, he had_ kissed_ her! And for what? Sakura clenched her fists. He had purposely kissed her as a distraction, just so he had an opportunity to knock her out unconscious. She tried to force her blush away. "You awake already? That chunk of wall hit you pretty hard. Sorry about that, yeah." Deidara asked, turning his head around to see the girl.

Sakura merely glared at him, crossing her arms in an irritated manner. "What's wrong now, yeah?" Deidara asked, staring at her with one risen eyebrow. Sakura's fought the urge to gape at him. He didn't remember? Sakura felt her cheeks heating up and that's when Deidara recalled the kiss. "Look, I'm sorry I had to do that, yeah. It was the only thing I could think of at the moment, and besides, it _worked_, didn't it?"

Sakura didn't answer but continued to glare at him some more. The _only_ thing he could think of? Bullshit. He could've just left her there like she fucking asked! Sakura was completely pissed off, now. She really wished it was Tobi with her instead of Deidara. At least Tobi was fun being around and he never tried fucking with her emotions before- as if they weren't already screwed up! She was still a wreck inside, still somewhat confused and grieving about her losses.

"I said I was sorry, yeah! I couldn't just leave you. I'm not _that_ heartless, yeah, so you don't have any reason to be mad at me." Deidara stated. Sakura rolled her eyes at his words- she didn't believe his reasoning. She looked around at her surroundings- she was lying inside a tent, and outside she could hear the fire crackling. Camp? He had made camp? Whoa. She wondered how long she had been unconscious for, and where they were now.

Sakura glared up at him, but Deidara couldn't make sense of what was bothering her. Why was she mad at him? There was absolutely no reason she should have been! He had done what he had to do in order to keep them both safe. "I'm starting to really get sick of you being so unreasonably angry and depressed, yeah." Deidara stated, glaring slightly at Sakura, who fumed. Sick of her being _depressed_? Who did he think he was?

"Excuse me?" She hissed, sounding no less furious than she really was. She had lost so much, and even when she had somehow convinced herself she was over it and moved on, she suddenly breaks down at the sight of their target, who just so happened to look like one of her close friends. After remembering her scream, and her lifeless body mangled on the ground- who _wouldn't_ feel worse? She wasn't the one being unreasonable- _he_ was! "You have no idea what I've been through!"

"Suck it up! You're not the only one who lost a couple of friends! We're ninja, yeah. It's bound to happen so jus-"

"Shut up." Sakura interrupted, her face reddened and her fists clenched. Someone like him could never understand. He had abandoned his village, his friends, and family willingly- well from what the bingo book said. She hadn't abandoned her village like that- quite the contrary, really. _They_ had left _her_. She was the_ last_ one alive. Deidara couldn't understand her position! He had no right to lecture her about her behaviour, about being a ninja. She had trained under one of the greatest out there, who was he to tell her different?

"No. I won't, yeah! Tobi and I have been nice to you, and hell, we even agreed on letting you join the Akatsuki! Can't you just get over yourself! Your problems probably don't even compare to what some of the guys' I know have been through! Whatever you're sulking about-"

Deidara lifted his hand toward his stinging cheek. Damn, that bitch slapped _hard_. He looked over at Sakura, about to yell at her for hitting him when he realized she was shaking and tears were sliding down her face. She looked up at him, fury, agony, and self-righteousness mixed into one expression.

"Shut up! You haven't lost everything- _everybody_ you ever cared of!" Deidara's eyes widened._ Everybody_? She had to be exaggeratin-

"You weren't there when your best friends died, friends close enough to call _family_!" Deidara took a step closer, but she only backed away from him, tears still streaming down her face.

"You didn't hear their _screams_!" She choked back a sob, and Deidara took another small step towards her. She took another step back.

"You didn't watch as they fell to the ground _dead_!" She was shaking even more, and Deidara's frown deepened.

"You didn't have to wander around the bloody battleground, desperately trying to find someone, _anyone_ you cared about." Sakura's knees buckled but Deidara was there to catch her.

"And when I did find them, I tried so hard to heal them, but I couldn't." She sobbed, now, clinging on to him as if her life depended on it. "They told me they loved me! Do you know how _painful_ it was to hear them say it? Having them tell me to stop healing them and let them _die_? To move on with my life- and I can't! I tried, but then I saw that girl. She looked so much like _her_, and I just couldn't forgive myself for- I just- _I let them down_!" She was in hysterics, now, and Deidara could do nothing but listen as she poured everything out to him.

Deidara wrapped his arms around the sobbing girl, giving her comfort. "I wasn't strong enough to save any of them! I don't deserve to be alive and well and happy when they've all _died_! It's not fair! I should've died _with_ them!" Deidara tightened his hold. He really had no idea how much this impacted the girl's life. Sure, he had friends and a couple of family, but he had never tried to create any close relationships. He had been too busy with his art to do any of that.

"I just can't... It's so hard. I've tried not to remember. I just... I had never felt so _alone_ in my life than that day." The pain so evident in Sakura's voice tore at Deidara. Here he was, telling her to suck it up, to be a ninja when what he should have been encouraging her to be was _human_. She was a person who led her life by emotions- it was who she was, what got her working properly. She obviously needed time to heal before she could move on. He had no idea, and he felt extremely guilty for not even trying to understand what she was going through.

"I... I'm sorry, yeah."

"It wasn't your fault." Sakura replied, trying to suppress her crying but failing miserably. Deidara let go of Sakura for a second, only to sit down and pull the girl to him, cradling her on his lap. He could relate with feeling alone, when he lived as a terrorist for hire, travelling around all on his lonesome. It probably wasn't the same kind of loneliness Sakura felt, though. He had _chosen_ to be alone, while Sakura was stripped from everyone she held dear.

He hadn't meant to make her feel upset. He sat there, watching as Sakura calmed herself down slowly. After about an hour, she was still hiccupping, but her tears had stopped and she wasn't shaking anymore. She looked up at him, then laid her head against his chest. "Deidara?..."

"Yeah, tenshi?"

"... Thanks."

He tightened his hold on her.

"Anytime, yeah."

* * *

"W-wait, what did you say?" Sakura asked, absolutely shocked. She couldn't believe her ears. After returning back to Akatsuki headquarters, she was immediately greeted with more bad news. It was unbelievable! What had she done that was so bad to deserve this?

"I will repeat myself only once more," Pein stated. "Unfortunately for our organization, Tobi ha-"

"Has gotten himself killed. Stupid fucker." Hidan exclaimed as he stepped into the office. Pein glared at him, obviously angered at being interrupted. "Why the fuck did you call me down?" He asked, rudely. Sakura and Pein decided to ignore him.

"Tobi's gone?" Sakura asked, though it was directed mostly at herself. She couldn't believe it- the only member of the Akatsuki she deemed _nice_ enough to hang around with was gone! Pein nodded his head in confirmation to her question. Sakura ran a hand through her hair in frustration. Sure, Tobi was a little queer and childish at times, but at least he seemed like a decent human being!

"You are dismissed, Haruno." Pein said, and he swiftly turned his attention to Hidan, who was standing there wondering about Sakura's strange reaction. It's not like she even knew the guy well. Besides, Tobi was a complete crack-head. Why the fuck would she be sad? He figured it was the fault of how Konoha had taught their shinobi. They were all a bunch of emotional, sissy bastards.

Sakura left the office and made her way to the couch, where Deidara sat, staring blankly at the television. "Are you alright?" She asked, sitting beside him. He nodded slowly, not once taking his eyes off the TV. He couldn't believe annoying Tobi was really gone. He hadn't really meant all those death threats, and the bombs he threw at Tobi were never fatal. And sure, he really was the most annoying person he'd ever had the chance to meet, and that he wasn't even close to Sasori's standards, and he seemed to have the worst timing in the world...

The list could go on and on, but he really didn't mind the kid!

The two sat there for a couple of minutes, both staring at the television that wasn't turned on. It's blank, empty screen stared back at them.

Deidara sighed. Sasori was probably going to be assigned as his partner, again. He wasn't going to start missions again until he had created his puppet body, but since Tobi was now dead... Deidara suppressed a sigh. He needed some time alone. "I'll be back, tenshi." He stated, before getting up and heading towards his room. Sakura watched him leave, and once he was gone, she sighed as well. Everybody around her kept dying. It was expected for one living the life of a ninja, sure, but it definitely didn't mean she would ever get used to it.

"What the fuck was all that about?"

Sakura jumped slightly, and swiveled her back around. She had to crane her neck up to see Hidan, standing over her. "What was _what_ all about?" She asked, crossing her arms.

"Don't play dumb with me, bitch. I heard him call you _tenshi_." Hidan said, a smirk playing on his lips. "Some slut just screwing around hardly sounds like an angel!" He said, laughing. "Are you fucking Deidara or something?" Sakura opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, Hidan had started talking again. "You are, aren't you! I knew you were a wh-"

He couldn't finish his sentence because Sakura had punched him in the gut, sending him stumbling back a couple feet back. She hadn't used chakra in that one, in case somebody sensed it. "What the fuck was that for? You little bitch." Hidan said, irritated. "That fucking hurt!"

"Good." Sakura gritted out. "And no, I am not fucking Deidara." This man was really pissing her off. Hidan suddenly grinned, asking if she wanted to take this outside. Sakura stood up in defiance and nodded her head.

"Bring it."

"You're going to regret this, bitch. Seriously." Hidan stated, leading her out of the base and into another secluded area. It was a small clearing, with trees growing along the border of the field. "No rules. Anything is allowed." Hidan exclaimed, licking his lips. He was going to enjoy this little spar. "You are so going down. Seriously."

"Hah, that's what you think." Sakura replied. Hidan laughed as she charged straight at him, her fists drawn and ready to punch the lights out of him- or so she thought. Didn't she know any better? What kind of approach was that? He effortlessly dodged the hit made towards him, but instead of pulling back like he thought she would, her fists came in contact with the ground he had just been standing on. The ground below him started to rumble and crack, and he was finding it difficult to keep his balance. He looked down at the ground he was standing on, steadying himself as it shook violently.

Needless to say, he was quite impressed. Sure, he heard those stupid rumors about her, but when had he ever believed in rumors in the first place? When he saw her, he was almost absolutely sure all those things said about her were total bullshit, but after witnessing such strength, all his doubts nearly vanished.

When he looked back up, Sakura was no longer seen. "Shit." He muttered, under his breath. He had definitely underestimated her. Who knew there was so much strength in that tiny body of hers? He whirled around, trying to see if he could spot her. Suddenly a hand shot beneath him, grabbing his ankle and pulling him down. Sakura emerged, pulling herself up as she looked down at him with victorious smirk plastered on her face.

"Was that all you've got?" Sakura teased. Suddenly Hidan disappeared, a log poofed in its place. Sakura's eyes widened. When had he-

"Got you, fucker!" Hidan exclaimed, tackling her to the ground from behind. She managed to turn around, but before she could shove him off, he had her arms pinned above her head. She tried using her legs to kick him off, but he pinned them down as well. This time he was the one smirking. "Give up?" Sakura struggled against him, but all efforts were futile. How could she have been so careless?

"No way!" Sakura exclaimed, chakra gathering into her fists once again. Hidan's smirk disappeared as she started to push against him. With a burst of strength, she managed to shove him off and jump back about five feet. "This isn't over just yet." She said, flexing her fingers. She waited for him to make a move, but he stood there, staring at her with a strange grin on his face.

She clasped her hands together, forming a quick seal, when Hidan decided to charge at her. He swiped at her with his scythe, and she dodged it- but barely. Her back hit a tree as she stumbled backwards, but her expression was fearless. Hidan kept running at her, swinging his scythe around wildly. Sakura jumped up, the blades of Hidan's weapon swiping cleanly through the tree. She was not intimidated in the least. She refused to show the slightest hint of fear.

"You can't just keep running, slut!" Hidan exclaimed in glee. He loved spars like this. Predator vs. Prey- and right now, he was the _predator_. He caught up to her, laughing the entire time, and slashed at her arm. He managed to cut her slightly. Just as he was about to pull back his weapon, Sakura disappeared in a puff of smoke. Hidan's laughter faded away at realizing he had been tricked with a mere clone. He frowned. "You stupid bitch! Show yourself, now!"

"You shouldn't be talking!" Sakura retorted. He was, after all, the one who hadn't noticed he was fighting a clone. She emerged from behind a tree, ready to attack on the other side of the clearing. He charged at her in fury, but when Sakura tried to take a step, she found that she couldn't. She looked down to see a pair of hands holding her feet down. One was black and the other was white.

Suddenly a plant-like thing started to emerge from the ground directly beneath her.

Sakura felt herself shudder once before she took in a deep breath and let out a terrified scream. Hidan, unsure of what was happening, stopped a couple feet away. "What the hell has gotten you so fucking scared? I charged at you earlier but you didn't even bat a fucking eyelash!"

Suddenly the hands let go of Sakura, and she tried to make a break for it, but Zetsu had already managed to fully emerge from the ground and had quickly wrapped his arms around her, locking her in place. Sakura simply froze- she was scared shitless. "Is this an intruder, Hidan?" The man asked, his voice sounding the least bit threatening. "If she is, I'll _gladly _dispose of her." He said again, though this time his voice had changed drastically. Sakura could've sworn he licked his lips.

She looked desperately at Hidan, who was smirking at her. Sakura's eyes widened when she realized what Hidan was going to say. "Well, I was just walking around when I saw this little bit-"

"Deidara!" Sakura exclaimed, seeing as he was jogging towards them. She felt a wave of relief wash over her savior came. She looked over at Hidan who was now looking irritated at having been interrupted. It's not like he was seriously going to tell Zetsu to dispose of her. He just wanted to scare her a little- to put her in place! Deidara had the worst timing.

"Zetsu, let go of her. She's going to be joining Akatsuki, yeah." Deidara stated, and Sakura felt Zetsu reluctantly let her go. She immediately ran towards Deidara, but a hand encircled her wrist and pulled her harshly into Hidan's hard chest. Zetsu, not wanting to get involved in such a strange sparring session, disappeared back into the ground.

"I didn't say we were finished, yet." Hidan said, his arm now at her waist. Deidara was fuming at the scene in front of him. Pein had sent him to fetch Sakura, but when he heard a large bang, he and had gone to check it out, only to find Sakura wrapped up in Zetsu's arms. And if that wasn't bad enough, now Hidan was all over her! She wasn't supposed to be touched by anybody else other than him!

"She's coming with me, yeah." Deidara exclaimed, forcefully grabbing the girl and tugging her to his chest. Hidan glared at him- why did he have to spoil his fun? Deidara glanced down at Sakura. "What are you're doing, anyways? He could've killed you, you know." He demanded. "I was worried that-" He caught himself before he could make a complete fool out of himself.

Sakura looked up at him, a sly smile on her face. "You were worried about me, Deidara?"

Deidara coughed, feeling his face heat up. "I was just about to say I was worried that Pein-sama was going to kill me for letting you get hurt." He finished, hoping that neither Hidan nor Sakura would notice his lying. Sakura's sly smile transformed into a genuine one as she felt her face heat up as well. It was plainly obvious that he was lying, and that he really had been worried about her safety.

"Bullshit!"

"Shut up, Hidan. Sakura, Pein-sama wants to talk to you, yeah." Deidara stated, gesturing her towards the direction of the base. She reluctantly left, but once she was out of sight, Deidara turned his attention back to Hidan in anger. "What the fuck do you think you're doing? You could've hurt her!"

"Why do you fucking care so much, eh, Deidara-_kun_?" Hidan retorted, with a mocking emphasis on the last part. Deidara turned away, unsure of how to answer him. He'd have to deny it- "And don't even try denying it. Seriously. I wasn't born yesterday, bitch."

Well, so much for denying it.

Deidara shrugged. "So what if I do, yeah? What are you going to do about it?"

"Well, _I_ want her. Seriously. That bitch can pack a punch. Fuck, even Jashin approves! I'll just need to convince her to convert to Jashinism." Hidan said, smirking. "Besides, it's not as if she'd go for a guy girlier than her!"

"Piss off, yeah." Deidara replied, defensively. "And as if she'd go for some fucking lunatic like you, yeah." Hidan scoffed in reply, obviously sure of himself. Deidara glared at him, clenching his fists. "Whatever, yeah. I'm heading back."

Deidara turned around and started walking away when suddenly a rock hit the back of his head. He turned back around in anger, and opened his mouth to say something but Hidan simply ran past him. He turned to watch him leave, slightly confused at what was going on. "I'm going to get to her before you do!" Hidan exclaimed, cackling. "And I'll be sure to tell her that you're only being nice to her to get some action, girly man!"

"Oh no you don't." Deidara muttered, sprinting towards him. It didn't take that long, considering Hidan was lugging around that giant scythe of his. The two raced into headquarters, waiting outside of the office where Sakura was currently speaking with Pein. They each put an ear against the door, making sure their chakra was fully masked. Unfortunately, Sakura and Pein were speaking too low for even them to hear, but when Sakura's foosteps were nearing, the two ran to the couch and turned on the TV.

"You two are back already?" Sakura asked, as she stepped into the living room. The two were sitting at opposite ends of the couch, arguing over the remote. "Anyways, I have some good news- well, for me, anyways." She started, biting her lips to stop a grin from forming. Deidara let go of the remote and focused his attention to her. Hidan, however, rolled his eyes. Deidara was _whipped_. "I'm an official member of Akatsuki!" She exclaimed. Suddenly her grin weakened, and her eyebrows had furrowed downward. "Too bad Tobi wasn't here- he seemed really excited at the thought of me joining."

Deidara and Hidan noticed the immediate change in the mood, and decided it was smart to keep low and to _not_ make any type of advances on her. "He would've been glad." Deidara murmured, and Sakura smiled weakly for him. She was still slightly sad for the loss of the ever cheerful, if not slightly hyperactive masked man. "And congratulations on making it, Sakura. I'm not surprised, yeah."

"Thanks, Deidara- anyhow, I'm a little hungry. Is there anything to eat here?" Sakura asked, changing the subject. She didn't want to talk about Tobi, or anything related to death at the moment. It was a time of celebration, after all. "Oh, and Hidan," She started. Hidan perked up slightly at his name being called. "Pein-sama requests your presence. He needs to talk to you about a mission, I think." Sakura finished. Hidan left, muttering curses under his breath. Sakura stepped out of his way as he stalked towards the office door.

Just before he entered the office, Hidan turned around and flipped off Deidara, who inwardly smirked. With Hidan out of the picture, he now had Sakura all to himself. "Now, where was I? Oh yeah, _food_." Sakura stated to herself. She started rummaging through the kitchen cabinets and the fridge, looking for something edible.

"Sakura," Deidara started, and Sakura paused from her searching to face him. "Now that you're part of the Akatsuki, yeah- what exactly were your reasons for coming here? What happened in Konoha, yeah?"

Sakura's lowered her eyes. She knew she would have to explain what happened sooner or later. "Do I _really_ have to say? I'd rather not talk about it. I got in- that's all that should matter." She replied, hoping her voice sounded apathetic, enough. She refused to sound weak in front of Deidara, again- especially after that episode during their mission. How could she let it get to her like that?

"You're going to have to tell me at one point, yeah." Deidara stated as he watched Sakura return to her rummaging. Sakura shrugged, telling him she would tell him later. It's not like she was in a hurry or anything. "It's all in the past, yeah. Eventually you'll have to get over it. I'm just curious, especially after you started cr-... Yeah." He finished, awkwardly. Goddamn, when was he ever going to learn how to think before he spoke?

"It's okay, just say it. I don't mind. I think... I think I've accepted the fact that they're gone, now." Sakura said, swallowing the lump in her throat. After being able to spill what had been bottled up inside her, she had finally come to feel more at peace, even if it was only a little. Sure, she had acted completely on impulse, but now that she thought of it, she didn't regret it. It felt as if some of her burden had been lifted off of her shoulders.

Deidara watched her in silence as she finally found the cereal hidden in the back of the cupboard. "You guys barely have anything here." Sakura stated, as she looked around for a bowl and some milk. Cereal for lunch? It wasn't absurd, especially for the Akatsuki. "I know this is a strange question to ask, but do you guys go grocery shopping?"

"Occasionally." Deidara replied. It was usually Kakuzu who went out to buy food, so it was no surprise that they barely had anything to eat. He was probably the most greedy, money-hoarding person Deidara had ever had the misfortune to meet.

"You guys need real food. I doubt any of you were taught how to cook." Sakura stated, and looked to Deidara for some confirmation. He nodded once. "That settles it. We're going grocery shopping."

"Wait, _we_? Who said anything about me going, yeah?" Deidara asked, incredulously. Real men do _not_ go grocery shopping! It was already bad enough countless people he came across had mistaken him for a girl; going shopping was definitely not going to help!

"Well, if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a little new here. I'm going to need somebody to show me to and around the marketplace." Sakura stated, in a matter-of-fact tone. Deidara shook his head stubbornly, crossing his arms. There was no way he was going to- "Fine then, I'll go ask Hidan. I'm sure he'd love to come with me!" She exclaimed, sarcasm practically dripping from her voice.

Deidara hadn't caught on to the tone of her voice and assumed she was serious. "Hidan? You're going to ask _Hidan_?" He asked with an edge to his voice. "There is no way that I'm going to let that freak near you, yeah." Deidara muttered. Sakura gave him a weird look, and asked why he found it so important to keep Hidan away from her.

'Because he's going to rape you, yeah.' is what he was tempted to say, but he figured it probably wasn't the smartest.

"If it's because of the spar earlier, then I'll have you know that I could have taken him on if it weren't for that thing that just came out of nowhere!" Sakura defended herself. "I didn't even sense him coming!"

"Of course you wouldn't," Deidara started, explaining how Zetsu had been accepted because of abilities to remain unseen, and to travel to many different locations quickly and completely hidden. Sakura bit her lip in thought. She better watch out for him in the future, just in case. "And you know how he 'disposes' bodies?" Deidara asked, trying to bite back his grin. Sakura shook her head.

"He _eats _them."

Sakura gaped at first. "So just earlier, when I was fighting Hidan, and he asked if I were to be disposed, he meant...?" Deidara nodded. "Oh, god."

Deidara chuckled, patting her on the head. "Don't worry. Now that he knows you're part of the Akatsuki, I'm sure he won't even think of eating you."

Unsurprisingly, Sakura found that she doubted that very much. She was definitely going to be watching out for him. "Anyhow, we've strayed a little from our original topic." Sakura said, thoughtfully. "You. Me. Shopping."

"Now?"

"Now."

* * *

End of chapter! TBC.

'Tenshi' is Japanese for angel. I needed a word that he could call her while she was being comforted and I could only remember that one, eheh. It sounds nice, don't you think? I hope so.

Please review!


End file.
